KARACHI: A major bid of terrorism was foiled in Sindh’s provincial metropolis Thursday when six alleged militants reportedly from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) were killed during an exchange of fire with personnel from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of police in Karachi’s Mauripur area, DawnNews reported.

According to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chaudhry Aslam, police launched a search operation near Lucky Pahari in Mauripur upon receiving a tip-off on the suspects’ whereabouts, following which the alleged militants opened fire.

Police resorted to counter-firing. During the exchange of fire between the two sides, three policemen sustained injuries where six alleged militants, including two suicide bombers were killed, CID police claimed.

The deceased persons were identified as Gul Hasan, Muhammad Arif, Khalid Hussain, Maqbool Ahmed, Naveed Arif Chota and Ghulam Kadir.

Chaudhry Aslam claimed that Gul Hasan was involved in more than fifty cases of sectarian killings in Karachi.

The suspected militants were also said to be involved in the infamous attacks on Sindh High Court judge Justice Maqbool Baqar and Imambargah Ali Raza among others, the SSP alleged.

Meanwhile, two suicide jackets, five Kalashnikovs, two TT pistols, two hand-grenades and a huge quantity of arms were recovered during the operation.

According to the SSP, the alleged militants hailing from the outlawed LeJ were planning to target the Hussainia-Iranian Imambargah in the Kharadar area of Karachi.