5 militants killed in clash with police in Pakistan's Karachi

At least five militants were killed in an armed clash with police in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday, officials said.

Rao Anwar, Senior Superintendent Police (SSP), said that the police received a tip-off from intelligence agencies about presence of suspected militants near Super Highway area of Karachi, capital city of the country's southern Sindh province.

Acting on the tip-off, law enforcement agencies conducted a search operation which led to a gun-battle between the police and the militants, he said.

The SSP added that the killed militants were members of outlawed outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and were involved in carrying out various terrorist activities in the city.

He said that the police also discovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the compound of the militants.

Wednesday's operation is the continuation of the National Action Plan under which police and paramilitary troops rangers are conducting intelligence-based operations in Karachi to restore peace in the city.

According to a report by Karachi police, at least 696 militants were killed in about 1,650 encounters with police and rangers in Karachi during the year 2015.

The law enforcement agencies also seized a total of 6,038 weapons including sub-machine guns, light-machine guns, sniper rifles, G-3 rifles, rockets, grenades, pistols and others from the custody of the militants during the year. Endit