One separatist guerrilla was killed and an army officer was injured Monday in an ongoing gunfight between the security forces and holed up militants in Kashmir's Kupwara district.
A senior police officer told IANS that after receiving specific information on the presence of a group of militants in a house in Vilgam village of the district, 110 km from here, a joint operation was mounted by the counter insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the special operations group of the state police.
"The militants holed up inside the house were challenged to surrender. They resorted to indiscriminate firing on the surrounding troops, triggering an encounter during which one militant was killed so far," the officer said.
He added: "A major of the RR has been injured in the exchange of firing. The encounter is still going on."
The identity of the slain militant is yet to be established.