Karachi, Sept 23: Paramilitary police arrested three members of an outlawed Islamic militant group for their suspected involvement in the killing of several minority Shiite Muslims in Karachi in recent months, an official said today. The men, alleged members of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni Muslim extremist group, were picked up yesterday in three separate raids in Karachi, said Capt Mohammed Imran, a spokesman for the rangers paramilitary force, whose troops made the arrests.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was banned by President Pervez Musharraf last year in a move aimed at ending Islamic extremism in the country. The group is blamed for killing hundreds of Shiite Muslims in recent years. Authorities also suspect members of the group for attacking Christians and westerners in Karachi in recent months, apparently in retaliation for Musharraf's backing for the US-led war against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Imran said that the three men were not senior members of the group. Three pistols, 17 bomb detonators and other bomb-making material was found from hideouts of the three suspects, he said.

Bureau Report