SRINAGAR (AFP) - An Indian army colonel has been killed in a gunbattle with freedom fighters in Indian-held Kashmir, the military said Wednesday. We have lost a colonel during a fierce overnight gunbattle with fighters in (northern) Kupwara district, Indian military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Vineet Sood told AFP. He said the fighting erupted when troops launched an operation in the forested area of Lolab, close to the Line of Control. The operation is still on, he said, adding that reinforcements had been rushed to the area. The fighting came as the top foreign ministry officials of India and Pakistan are due to meet in Islamabad on Thursday in the hope of reviving their stalled peace process after a recent thaw in relations. More than 47,000 people have been killed, according to an official tally, since freedom struggle started in 1989 against Indian rule in Kashmir.