A joint task force of various security and intelligence officials is conducting a 'sanitisation' operation in Quetta days after superintendent police (SP) Muhammad Ilyas and three members of his family were gunned down in the city's Nawan Killi area.

Frontier Corps Sector Commander Tasawar Sattar briefed the press on the ongoing operation in Quetta's Pashtoonabad on Sunday, saying that personnel from various agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau and FC, were participating in the operation.

Deputy Inspector General Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema said the basic purpose of the operation is to 'sanitise' the area. At least 500 houses in the area are being searched, he said.

As soon as the operation is complete, another briefing will be given, Cheema said. Two operations have already been conducted this past week, he added.

The police have recently been under attack in the provincial capital. A DIG and two others were killed in a blast in the city earlier this month.