Pakistan police today killed at least 12 militants involved in target killings and seized a large cache of arms in the country's biggest city.

"Eight suspected militants were killed in the Pipri area while four others were later shot dead in Gadap on the outskirts of the city," Senior Superintendent of Police in Malir district, Rao Anwar told reporters.

"They all belonged to outlawed militant outfits and opened fire on the raiding parties of police when they raided their hideouts on creditable tip-offs," Anwar said. "In Pipri, the militants were heavily armed and opened fire after which the police retaliated and killed eight of them," he said.

He said four other militants fled the scene in the cover of darkness but were chased down to Gadap where another encounter took place and they were also killed by the police. Anwar said five of those killed had been identified as Sohail, Khalil, Bilal,Talha and Abdul Salam.

The police official said that the raids were conducted after information provided by two recently arrested high profile terrorists, Naeem Bukhari and Farooq Bhatti, adding that the deceased men belonged to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LeJ).