PESHAWAR, March 15: A suspected militant was killed and three others were arrested during a pre-dawn raid at a house in Adezai on the suburbs of provincial metropolis on Tuesday.

Official sources said that the alleged militant, Rab Nawaz Khan, was facilitator of the suicide bomber, who had blown himself up on March 9 during a funeral in the village, leaving 43 people killed and over 50 injured.

The raid was conducted by Frontier Corps without involving local police, they said. The body of the militant was shifted to a local mortuary.Sources said that security forces recorded telephonic conversation of Rab Nawaz with terrorists, based in tribal regions. He had informed militants by telephone about casualties in the blast and also talked about more attacks on the commanders of anti-Taliban Adezai Qaumi Lashkar.

Sources said that security forces asked him to surrender but he opened firing on them. He sustained bullet injuries in retaliatory firing and later succumbed to his wounds, they added.

The names of the arrested persons, who were shifted to undisclosed location for interrogation, could not be ascertained.

The officials, quoting local sources, said that the suicide bomber, who attacked the funeral, had been escorted by at least 60 persons to the village. His accomplices had returned to Akakhel area of Khyber Agency, they added.“Two more would-be suicide bombers, whose code names are stated to be Bahadur and Israr, have also reached the outskirts of Peshawar to attack some key leaders, especially those leading the anti-militants volunteers,” an official said.

However, Matani police avoided giving details about the raid. An official said that police had been kept at a distance from the operation. He said that security forces stationed at Speena Thana in Darra Adamkhel conducted the raid.

The leaders of the lashkar, when contacted, said that their volunteers had taken positions at different strategic locations to stop movement of the militants in the area.

They said that militants increased their activities in the suburban areas of Peshawar after military operations were launched against them in tribal regions. They said that militants could easily move from tribal area to settled parts of the district.

Dilawar Khan, chief of the lashkar, said that volunteers had noted suspicious activities of Rab Nawaz Khan but police were not ready to interrogate him owing to his links with some leaders of Awami National Party.

Another source said that police picked up a welder from Matani identified as Gul Khan, who was close relative of a militant Jangrez. The militant, who belongs to Adezai village, has gone underground.

It was learnt that he was named in several cases including suicide attacks on former nazim of Adezai Haji Abdul Malik in 2009 and on the funeral on March 9. His residence had been blown up last year.

The source said that some Afghan nationals were also arrested from Matani Bazaar.