Six suspected militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Sunday, PTI reported. Defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia said an Army soldier was also killed in the firing.

Kalia said the militants are yet to be identified. Ammunition was also recovered from the site.

The gunfight took place at Hipura Batagund in Kulgam district. A joint team of the Army’s 34 Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force, and Special Operations Group Shopian launched cordon-and-search operation in the area after midnight, Greater Kashmir reported. The militants then fired at the security forces.

A civilian was killed and several others wounded in clashes with security forces after the encounter started. According to reports, security personnel used live ammunition, pellets and tear gas to bring the protests under the control. Noman Ashraf Bhat of Bolsoo village was injured by a bullet in the clashes and succumbed to injuries in Kulgam district hospital.

Mobile internet services were suspended in Shopian district, ANI reported.

“This was a joint operation of the Army, police and the CRPF,” Brigadier Sachin Malik said, according to ANI. “We eliminated today a majority of terrorist leadership of both Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Shopian.”

In another encounter on November 20, four suspected militants and an Army commando were killed in a gunfight in Shopian.