Five militants killed in Pakistan's Nankana Sahib

Five militants who were plotting to target government offices in Pakistan's Punjab province were killed today in a gun battle with security forces and a huge quantity of explosives was seized from them.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) killed the militants in a raid at a house in Shahkot area in Nankana Sahib district, early on Sunday.

A source in the CTD said that the militants were members of the Tahreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and they also had close association with the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). "The terrorists were planning to target offices of the law enforcement agencies in Lahore," he said.

A CTD official earlier said that a team raided the house following intelligence that eight militants were hiding there. "When the personnel surrounded the house and asked the suspects to surrender they opened fire on them. The personnel returned the fire killing five terrorists on the spot," the official said, adding the other suspects managed to flee.

A huge quantity of explosives and weapons and banned literature were recovered from the house. Nankana Sahib is the birthplace of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak.