Pakistani police kill 4 in raid on militant hideout

Pakistani police commandos take part in an anti-terrorism drill outside the Marriyam Muqaddasa Church ahead of Christmas celebrations in Lahore on December 23, 2019. (File/ AFP)

• The intelligence based raid in the country’s northwest triggered intense shootout 
• Militants had gathered at a house in Peshawar to plan attacks

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani police said Tuesday their counter-terrorism forces, acting on intelligence, raided a suspected militant hideout in the country’s northwest, triggering an intense shootout in which four suspects were killed.
Police also seized assault rifles and other weapons in the overnight operation. The suspects had gathered at a home in the city of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, to plan attacks, said Sannaullah Abbasi, the province’s police chief.
The operation was successful and “saved many innocent people from possible attacks,” he said. Abbasi provided no further details, but other officials said the slain militants apparently belonged to a banned group.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province borders Afghanistan and has witnessed dozens of militant attacks in recent years, most of them claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.