KARACHI -- Pakistani Rangers say they have killed eight militants who tried to assassinate an opposition politician in Karachi last month, officials said Sunday (October 22).
Rangers and counter-terrorism officers raided the Raees Goth neighbourhood overnight after they received intelligence about a militant presence there, Maj. Qambar Raza, the Rangers' spokesman for Sindh Province, told AFP.
"After an intense exchange of fire, five terrorists were killed on the spot, while three others who were captured wounded later died in hospital," said the spokesman.
Two of the militants were identified as belonging to the relatively new militant group Ansarul Shariah Pakistan (ASP). ASP chief Sheharyar-ud Din -- also known as Abdullah Hashmi -- was among those killed in the overnight raid, Raza said.
Hashmi was the mastermind of an attempt to assassinate politician Khawaja Izharul Hassan, the leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, in September in Karachi, according to Raza. A 10-year-old boy and a guard were killed in the incident, while Hassan was unhurt.
