PAKISTAN - At least four terrorists were gunned down in an encounter with police in Muzaffargarh on Saturday morning.
DPO Rai Zamirul Haq said the police had foiled a plot of terrorism on the eve of Arbaeen of Imam Hussain in Muzaffargarh and Multan and seized four suicide jackets, 12 rockets, 40 hand grenades, 328kg of gun-powder and other chemicals as well as a vehicle without number plate.
“In the exchange of fire, we killed four militants. Two police officials were also injured by two grenades hurled at them by the militants," Zamir-ul-Haq said.
The police later recovered heavy arms and explosives including rockets, grenades and gunpowder from the militants’ hideout, he added.
"By seizing such large quantity of weapons and explosives and killing these militants, we have foiled a major attempt of terror in the region," the police chief pointed out.
The four men reportedly planned to target a Saturday rally to mark Arba’een, a religious mourning ceremony observed by Shia Muslims.
Meanwhile, Nabila Ghazanfar, a police spokeswoman in Punjab's provincial capital Lahore, noted that the police had cordoned off the region in an attempt to hunt down any other suspected militants.
Pro-Taliban militants have carried out numerous attacks against Pakistani security forces and civilians, and managed to spread their influence in various regions of the country despite sporadic offensives by the Pakistani army.
Thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives in bombings and other militant attacks since 2001, when Islamabad entered an alliance with Washington in the so-called war on terror.
Millions of Muslims worldwide are commemorating Arba’een on Saturday, the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam and a grandson of Prophet Muhammad.
In Pakistan, many Shia Muslims have fallen victim to Al-Qaeda-inspired militancy during their religious rituals.
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