Security forces gun down 8 insurgents in Pakistan

Police and paramilitary troops have killed eight insurgents in two separate encounters in east and southwest Pakistan on Tuesday, local Urdu media reported.

Dunya News said that the paramilitary troops Frontier Corps (F.C.) conducted a search operation on an intelligence tip-off regarding the presence of suspected militants in Hoshab area of the country's southwest Balochistan province.

During the raid at a suspected hideout, the militants opened fire at the F.C. personnel, engaging them into a gun battle in which three insurgents were killed.

The F.C. spokesperson said that the killed militants belonged to a local terrorist group and were planning attacks in the province.

He said that the forces recovered arms and ammunition including rifles, shotguns, hundreds of bullets, anti-state literature and narcotics from the dead terrorists' hideouts.

The spokesperson added that four militants' hideouts were also destroyed during the search operation in the area and the troops also detained seven suspected militants who were shifted to some undisclosed location for investigations.

Separately, in the country's east Punjab province, police killed five dacoits, following exchange of firing with them on Tuesday morning.

Police said that the dacoits were fleeing the scene in a pick-up after carrying out robbery in Sahiwal district when police chased their vehicle.

The dacoits opened fire at the police van which lead to the exchange of firing.

Two policemen were also injured in the clash and had been shifted to a nearby hospital. Endit