India’s armed forces claimed to have killed seven fighters in a gun battle in northern Indian-held Kashmir on Monday.

India's armed forces claimed to have killed seven fighters in a gun battle in northern Indian-held Kashmir on Monday.

According to Indian authorities, all of those killed were foreign fighters belonging to Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

"The gunfights broke out around today afternoon when a patrol party of Army’s 18 Rashtriya Rifles came under heavy fire in Tikipora neighborhood of Dardpora village in Kupwara district," said J. P. Singh, deputy inspector general of police, North Kashmir Police.

Kupwara town lies 115 km northwest of Srinagar and is known for the active presence of of the so-called 'rebels'.

The gun battle lasted for about six hours and, according to the police, a huge cache of arms and ammunitions was recovered from the site.

Indian police sources, who wishes not to be named, said three more fighters were believed to be present in the area but managed to escape.