KARACHI: Karachi police claim to have arrested six Pakistani Taliban militants involved in the Abbas Town blasts which killed more than 50 people earlier in the month, DawnNews reported.

Police said the suspects were arrested on a tip-off from spy agencies and a large quantity of explosives was recovered from them.

Speaking to media representatives on Thursday, senior police official Shahid Hayat said police first took into custody two members of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Khairdeen and Ishaq, after an encounter in Karachi’s Sea View area.

“Two pistols and 100 kilos of explosives were recovered from their possession,” said Hayat.

Both suspects made intriguing revelations upon which, Hayat said, police raided Khuda ki Basti in Surjani Town and nabbed four of their accomplices.

Police further claim to have recovered around 250 kilos of explosives from the possession of the four, who were identified as Irfan, Inamullah, Bashirullah and Aalam Sher Mehsud.

He claimed the arrested belong to the TTP and were involved in the Abbas Town blasts which destroyed several apartments and shops and also injured around 200 people on March 3. TTP's spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan however had denied involvement of his organisation in the incident.

Earlier in the day, another commander of the TTP Qari Bilal was killed in a shootout with security forces in the city’s Manghopir area.

According to police officials, Qari Bilal was involved in the murder of Parveen Rehman, a social worker who was gunned down in Karachi on Wednesday.

Police, along with Rangers forces, are carrying out targeted operations against law breakers and militants in the aftermath of renewed wave of violence in Karachi, the country’s financial hub which is plagued by political and sectarian violence and targeted killings.