Srinagar, Nov 25 (IANS): An Indian Army soldier and six Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Taiba militants have been killed so far in an encounter underway in a Jammu and Kashmir village in Shopian district on Sunday, defence spokesman said.

A civilian suffered a bullet injury as intense clashes broke out in the morning between villagers and the security forces while the combing operation was still underway.

While one soldier of the territorial army was killed, another sustained injuries as a joint operation by the Rashtriya Rifles, troops of special operations group (SOG) of the police and the Central Reserve Police Force brought down the militants in Batagund village, spokesman of army's Udhampur headquartered Northern Command said.

The operation began late on Saturday following a tip off received by the security forces. "As we tightened the cordon around the hold-up group, they started firing, triggering the encounter," a police officer said.

The gun battle continued through the night as the security personnel chased out militants from their hideouts and gunned them down.

With day break, villagers tried to disrupt the operation clashing with the personnel.

A youth identified as Faizan Ahmad suffered an injury as a bullet grazed his head. He was shifted to Srinagar, the police officer said