Ten militants killed in gun battle with Pakistani police in Lahore

Pakistani police say at least ten militants have been killed in a gun battle in the eastern city of Lahore, just a few days after a bomb attack rocked the city, killing several people and wounding nearly 20 others.

Pakistani police say at least ten militants have been killed in a gun battle in the eastern city of Lahore, just a few days after a bomb attack rocked the city, killing several people and wounding nearly 20 others.

According to a statement released by Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Department, the incident occurred in the early morning of Saturday, when security forces were taking five arrested members of Jamaat-ul-Ahrar terrorist group, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, to recover an arms cache and a hideout, both belonging to the group, but they came under attack by nearly 10 militants, who freed the captives.

Among the freed suspects was AnwarulHaq, the group’s key handler of Lahore’s Mall Road blast on February 13, in which at least 14 people were killed. 

Based on Haq’s information, security forces had managed to arrest a number of his accomplices.