By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Security forces killed five suspected militants in a clash in northeastern Pakistan on Sunday morning, Punjab police said in a statement.
The clash - a second one in the last 24 hours - occurred during a search operation in remote Dera Ghazi Khan district, which sits nearly 500 kilometers from Lahore-the capital of Punjab province-, according to the counter terrorism unit of Punjab police.
The militants were asked to surrender but they fired at police. In retaliatory firing, all five were killed, the statement said.
On Saturday morning, ten suspected militants were also killed in Lahore in a similar clash.
The dead included two prime suspects of a suicide blast near Punjab state assembly building in Lahore, which killed 13 people, including two senior police officers in February, the police said.
Pakistan army along with other law enforcing agencies has recently launched a countrywide anti-terrorism operation following a fresh spate of terrorism that has killed over 130 people across the country in last two months. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a coalition of various militant groups in Pakistan, and its allies have claimed responsibility for the fresh violence.