Peshawar, April 11:A police officer and three militants were killed in a pre-dawn clash on the outskirts of this northwestern Pakistani city today.
A group of five militants opened fire on a police van in Hayatabad area of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province, senior police officer Ijaz Ahmad said.
Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Sajjad died instantly and another policeman was injured, he said.
The policemen gunned down three militants in retaliatory firing while the other two fled.
Police found several assault rifles, five grenades and explosives in the possession of the dead militants.
The militants were trying to enter the nearby Khyber tribal region when they were challenged by police.
The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Lashkar-e-Islam are active in Khyber tribal agency, a key route for ferrying supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
-Agencies