Five Pakistani Taliban Killed in Karachi Clash

Five Pakistani Taliban were killed Wednesday in a clash with Rangers in the southern port city of Karachi, a spokesman for the paramilitary force said.

The militants opened fire when Rangers raided their hideout in the

Mangopir area of Karachi, Rangers spokesman Sibtain Rizvi told Agence France-Presse.

"The Rangers retaliated, as a result five terrorists were killed. The Rangers also recovered automatic weapons and explosive materials from the hideout," Rizvi said.

The clash came a day after the Pakistani Taliban carried out the deadliest ever attack in the country on a military-run school in the northwestern city of Peshawar killing 148 people, mostly children.

The attack bought international condemnation as well as promises of a decisive crackdown on militants from political and military leaders. 

Police have also arrested five suspected members of al-Qaida's newly formed South Asian chapter suspected of carrying out an attack on a naval dockyard in Karachi in September.

Karachi, a teeming metropolis of around 18 million people, is rife with political, ethnic, sectarian and criminal violence.