Highly valued militant among 16 killed in east Pakistan clash

At least 16 militants were killed and six policemen injured in an armed clash between the police and terrorists in Pakistan's east Muzaffargarh city on Wednesday morning, local media and officials said.

Spokesperson of the Counter Terrorism Department of the police said that the cops were bringing back banned out-fit Lashkar-e- Jhangvi's (LeJ) Chief Malik Ishaq and his six accomplices after identification of some weapons from Shahwali area near Muzaffargarh when a group of 12 to 15 gunmen attacked them.

The attackers wanted to release Ishaq and other militants from the police custody, but the cops engaged them in a fierce gun battle killing 13 of them.

Police said that Malik Ishaq and his two sons were killed in crossed firing by the militants themselves.

The LeJ chief and his two sons were arrested three days ago and police was carrying out investigations from them.

On late Tuesday night, police took them to the Shahwali area where they were allegedly hiding arms and ammunition in a house.

Police said that they recovered a huge cache of arms including suicide vests and other explosive materials from the house and the custody of the attackers.

Formed in early 1990s, LeJ is considered as one of the most extremist Sunni terror group of Pakistan and is accused of killing hundreds of Shia Muslims across the country since then.

The group was banned by former president Pervez Musharraf in 2001.

The group also claimed many sectarian attacks including bomb blasts and attacks on Shia pilgrims' buses in the country's southwest Balochistan province over the last few years.

In 2014, the U.S. added the LeJ Chief Malik Ishaq's name in the list of most wanted global terrorists.

Ishaq was facing charges relating to killing of more over 100 Shia Muslims and has spent around 15 years in Pakistani jails.