Police in Pakistan say they have killed five suspected associates of
Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud during a raid on a home in the southern
city of Karachi.
Authorities say the five were killed during a
gun battle late Friday in the Sohrab Goth area of the city.
Authorities say other suspects managed to escape.
A Karachi
police chief, Wassem Ahmed, says authorities conducted the raid after
receiving a tip that militants had entered the city posing as people
who had been forced to leave their homes (Internally displaced persons
or IDPs). He said the suspected militants were planning attacks in
Karachi.
Police also say they seized a sizable quantity of weapons and ammunition at the scene.
Pakistan's
military on Saturday continued targeting the South Waziristan tribal
region, where Mehsud is based. Officials said fighter jets pounded
Taliban hide-outs in the northwest, killing at least 12 militants and
wounding more than a dozen others.
Mehsud is blamed for a series
of suicide bombings throughout the country, including a Friday attack
that killed two soldiers in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.