KARACHI: Police on Sunday claimed to have killed three suspected Al Qaeda militants who were allegedly planning an attack on the chief of a law enforcement agency.

Malir SSP Rao Anwar said the suspected militants belonged to the outlawed Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and were killed after an alleged encounter in Quaidabad are of the metropolis.

“Police were searching the area after receiving a tip-off that militants were hiding there. When they reached an area near a hill, terrorists started firing on them and in retaliation three militants were killed,” said Anwar.

The Malir SSP identified one of the deceased as Riaz alias Raja, who he believed was a commander of the AQIS.

Karachi, a city of 20 million and country's economic hub, is frequently hit by religious, political and ethnic violence.

Paramilitary forces began a sweeping crackdown on militants in the city in 2013, which has led to a substantial drop in overall levels of violence.

Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban have carried out joint operations for years, but both are hostile to the Islamic State group which is an upstart in the region.

Pakistan launched a countrywide campaign against militancy called the National Action Plan starting in 2015.