Four security personnel, including two police personnel and two Central Reserve Police Force personnel, were killed during an encounter with suspected militants in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday, PTI reported, quoting unidentified officials. A civilian was killed in the clashes that followed the encounter.

Unidentified officials said the incident occurred after a militant, one of the two presumed dead, opened fire at the security personnel, the Greater Kashmir reported.

Kashmir Zone Police said the security personnel who died in the encounter are Naseer Kholi and Ghulam Mustafa of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, and Pintu and Vinod of the CRPF. The operation is still under way, according to ANI.

The officials identified the civilian as Waseem Ahmad Mir who was declared “brought dead” at the hospital.

The gunfire exchange broke out late on Thursday night during a cordon and search operation. Officials said the deceased include two Army personnel, a Central Reserve Police Force inspector and jawan and a policeman.

The injured are undergoing treatment at the district hospital in Handwara.