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Five militants killed in response to attack on polio team in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, March 2 (UPI) -- Security forces in Pakistan carried out a massive anti-militant operation Sunday in response to a deadly attack on a polio vaccination team.

Pakistani gunship helicopters bombarded militant hideouts in parts of Bara Sunday morning, killing at least five suspected militants, Dawn News reported.

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Eleven polio vaccination workers Saturday were killed when their convoy struck a roadside bomb. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Elsewhere five other people were killed Sunday in Karachi in several incidents, Dawn News reported. Two people were killed in a clash between gangs, police said. A body, that appeared to have been tortured, was found in Karachi's Mauripur area. In the same area, a fourth person was killed by gunmen.

In Surjani Town's Khuda ki Basti area, a body with its throat slit was found in an empty house, police said.

Meanwhile, the government of Pakistan agreed to a monthlong cease-fire with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan to resume peace talks, News International reported.

The Interior Ministry released a statement Sunday stating the decision to participate in the cease-fire, which the TTP offered Saturday, was reached after Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif.

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However, security forces will respond to any terrorist activity carried out by Taliban members, the statement said.

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