KARACHI, Jan 19: The ninth of Muharram passed off peacefully with Karachi police claiming to have averted a potential disaster by arresting at least five suspected militants armed with poison and bomb-related material.

In previous years such days saw a great deal of sectarian violence and bloodshed, if not in Pakistan then in other flashpoints the world over.

Security measures taken for Muharram processions and other religious activities seem to have paid off with no attacks reported from anywhere in Pakistan.

Earlier intelligence reports suggested that suicide bombers had entered important city centres with a view to wreaking havoc on Muharram gatherings.

The Peshawar suicide attack that left at least 12 people killed lent credence to the widely held view that attackers could operate at will.