Three children killed in police raid on house in Toba Tek Singh

Security forces carried out the raid following a tip-off that a terrorist was seeking refuge in the house

At least five people including three children were killed in exchange of fire as security forces raided a residence believed to be housing a terrorist linked with the defunct militant outfit al Qaeda in Toba Tek Singh.

Talking to The Express Tribune, District Police Officer (DPO), Shahzad Akbar said police raided the house located in Pir Mahal area on Thursday morning, adding that the operation - which lasted for an hour - has now concluded.

“The area has been cordoned off while other houses of the residential area are being searched to rule out presence of other terrorists in the area,” he said.

He said that the terrorist, Habibur Rehman, his wife and three of their children aged between two to seven years, were killed as he refused to surrender and returned fire at police.

"One of the children was saved while a policeman sustained injuries," he said and claimed that heavy ammunition and important documents were recovered from the site of the incident.

The DPO furthered that Rehman was wanted in a high profile terrorism case.

Reports suggested that the militant was equipped with explosives and blew himself up when personnel of the security forces arrived to search the house.

There were also reports of recovery of hand grenades from the site of the incident and that these were being dismantled.

In December last year, law enforcement agencies took into custody a suspect, Muhammad Arshad, from Toba Tek Singh for his alleged involvement and links with the perpetrators of Peshawar massacre by the Taliban that claimed lives of 140 people, mostly schoolchildren.