Police kill Punjab suspects

Police have shot dead three suspected Muslim militants in Pakistan's Punjab province.

They say the clash took place in the southern district of Vehari, 350 kilometres south of Lahore, when three people riding motorcycles failed to stop at a police checkpoint.

The provincial police chief, Malik Asif Hayat, told the BBC that officers shot the men having come under fire themselves.

Police said that they were later identified as members of the outlawed Sunni organisation, Lashkar-e-Jhangavi.

Police say the three men were wanted by the police in connection with twelve criminal cases including sectarian killings.

It is the second incident between police and members of Lashkar-e-Jhangavi this week.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service