Two Islamist militants have been killed in a raid by Pakistani police on their hideout in Karachi, police said.

Police raided the house and had an exchange of fire with the militants there, said a senior police official.

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The pair was said to be planning an attack on foreign targets in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi.

'Heavily armed'

"We have saved Karachi from death and destruction. We know who they were and what was their target in Karachi, but we cannot disclose it immediately," provincial police chief Babar Khattak was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.

Police raided Karachi's Baldia neighbourhood based on information given by an unidentified suspect who was arrested earlier at dawn, Mr Khattak said.

"We surrounded the area after the detainee told interrogators that his colleagues hiding there were heavily armed and also carried suicide jackets," he said.

The militants fired at the troops and also threw grenades at them, he said.

Karachi is Pakistan's commercial hub.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks in recent days.

Last week, a suicide bomb devastated the Islamabad Marriott hotel, killing at least 53 people and injuring more than 266.

A little known Pakistani militant group, Fidayeen-e-Islam, said it carried out the devastating attack.

Over the week, a suicide bomber killed nine troops in the Madiyan area of the volatile Swat valley of north-west Pakistan. It was unclear who was responsible .

And in Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province, an Afghan diplomat was kidnapped and his driver killed.

(BBC)

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