Police kills four Taliban militants in Karachi

Syed Pir Ali Shah, the police chief, said that police stormed an eastern suburban area of Karachi on a tip-off about the presence of a group of militants in the area.

The heavily-armed militants opened fire on the police who immediately retaliated, the police chief said.

It was the first direct clashes between Taliban and security forces since the Pakistan's army has launched a ground offensive operation on the restless northern Waziristan to push militants out of the north-western tribal region on Monday.

Karachi, the country's commercial capital, is known for violent gang wars and having Taliban militants holed up in parts of the city. Authorities fear that militants fleeing North Waziristan may hide in Karachi's suburbs.