Security forces on Thursday gunned down a top Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist involved in the massacre of 13 Hindu villagers in the Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir on April 30 this year.

The slain terrorist commander was identified as Ijaz Ahmed.

Army troops, acting on specific information, surrounded Punara village, 150 km north of winter capital Jammu on Thursday morning, police said.

"On realising that they had been surrounded, terrorists fired upon the troops who retaliated. In the ensuing gun battle, one terrorist was killed. Also killed in the encounter were a Special Police Officer of the local police and a local Village Defence Council member while five other security men sustained injuries," a senior police officer said.