KARACHI: 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 AFP.

“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 Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) carried out the deadliest ever attack in the country on a military-run school in 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 Qaeda'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.