KARACHI: Seven militants were killed in raids by security forces in Karachi, a military official said Tuesday.

Brig Gen Mohammad Khurram told reporters that the two overnight raids came after reports that militants from Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) planned to attack a security forces headquarters near the airport.

Khurram said that in the first raid, three militants were trapped in a building and killed themselves by detonating explosive vests.

He added that in the second raid, security forces killed three militants while a fourth blew himself up. After the Pakistani army began military operations in their tribal sanctuaries, many Taliban militants began hiding in urban areas.

Law enforcement agencies have been actively seeking to rid Karachi — Pakistan’s commercial hub— of terrorism and violence via operations in the city’s troubled areas for well over a year now.

Both police and Rangers have raided plenty of areas and have arrested thousands of suspects and criminals to ensure peace in the city, which has been hit by a wave of law and order problems.