Islamabad, March 27 (IANS): Police in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi killed four militants during an exchange of fire on Friday afternoon, media reported.

The cops conducted a search operation on an intelligence tip-off about the presence of the terrorists in Gulshan-e-Maymar area of Karachi, the capital city of the country's southern Sindh province.

When police raided the militants' hideout, they opened fire at the cops engaging them in a gun battle, which resulted in the killing of four insurgents, Xinhua news agency reported.

Police took custody of the bodies of the militants who were identified as belonging to a banned outfit.

The cops said the militants were involved in target killings, bomb blasts and extortion in the city.

Arms and ammunition were also recovered from the hideout of the militants.

The search operations of the kind were launched in various areas of Karachi, following a bomb attack at a police vehicle in the city that killed two policemen and injured 13 others earlier on Friday.

Targeted operations by Police and Pakistan Rangers' forces have also been going in the city since September 2013 under the directives of the federal government against criminals already identified by federal, military and civilian agencies.