OKARA: Six suspected militants with alleged links to Al Qaeda were shot dead in an encounter, district police claimed on Wednesday.

A raid was carried out at a hideout in village 28/2R after police received intelligence reports that militants hiding there were planning attacks on sensitive government sites, including the office of the District Police Officer (DPO), said Superintendent of Police (SP) Saud Magsi.

In an exchange of fire that followed, six Al Qaeda militants were killed and two police personnel were wounded, he said.

Police also recovered explosives, detonators, kalashnikovs and a map of the DPO's office from the militant hideout.

The injured police officials were shifted to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospitals Mian Channu and Khanewal.

The raid comes months after an extensive military-led operation in South Punjab that targeted gangs involved in various crimes.

Police claimed to have arrested 77 hardcore members of five notorious gangs and recovered from them a huge cache of weapons and ammunition during the three-month long operation.