Seven militants killed in shootout with Punjab police

At least seven militants have been killed during a shootout with Pakistani police in the province of Punjab.

A police statement said the militants were killed when counter-terrorism forces raided their hideout about 56 kilometers (35 miles) west of Lahore, the capital of Punjab, during the early hours of Sunday.

Police said the militants were killed by bullets from their own comrades.

"When the firing stopped, seven terrorists were found dead by the firing of their own accomplices and the remaining escaped in the darkness of the night," the statement read.

The militants were reportedly affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and a notorious anti-Shia terrorist group known as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

Some of the militants had been involved in subversive activities, including multiple attacks on Pakistani security forces, according to the police statement.

The LeJ terrorist group, which has been involved in several attacks on Shia Muslims in recent years, is largely funded by Saudi Arabia. It has claimed responsibility for some of the most brazen attacks on the Shia community in Pakistan's recent history, including a January 2013 bombing in the southwestern city of Quetta, where over 100 members of the Hazara community were killed.

SS