Imphal: Six insurgents and an Army jawan were killed in a major gunbattle at Borobekra area in the Jiribam border town in Imphal East district of Manipur today (Oct 18, 2004), official sources said.

Army personnel of 9th Para Regiment on a tip-off cordoned off a suspected insurgent hideout at Borobekra area in Jiribam, about 222 km west of Imphal, late last night and began a search operation this morning.

As the security forces stepped up the search operations in the hilly area bordering Cachar district of Assam, suspected insurgents opened fire and in the gunfight, one Army jawan and six ultras were killed, they said.

The bodies of the insurgents were yet to be handed over to the Jiribam police station while the body of the jawan was taken to the Army headquarters at Masipur area in Cachar district.

One AK 56 rifle, three magazines, 90 live rounds, one rocket launcher and a photo album were recovered from the spot.