At least five people, including three children and a woman, were killed during a joint-raid conducted by intelligence agencies and police in Pirmahal area of Toba Tek Singh district on Thursday.
A senior police official said that officers raided a suspected militant hideout in Housing Colony area of Pirmahal, triggering a shootout. The suspects also lobbed several grenades wounding three members of the Punjab Elite Force during the hour-long encounter. The condition of one of the wounded cops was reported as critical.
A large contingent of security men and police commandoes reached the site and cordoned off the area.
Police claimed to have arrested one suspected terrorist, who was in wounded condition, while another reportedly blew himself up to avoid arrest.
The wife and three children of the suspect, who detonated his suicide vest, were among those killed in the blast. Another child was also critically injured in the explosion.
Police sources also said that that the arrested suspect was a key commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Authorities have stepped up operations against militants during the past two weeks after a suicide attack in Punjab province killed provincial home minister Shuja Khanzada and 13 others.
