Quetta: A senior commander of the banned outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was among the two militants killed in an encounter by the security forces in the troubled Baluchistan province here, police has said. LeJ Baluchistan head Usman Saifullah, the suspected mastermind of the recent Shikarpur Imambargah, was hiding in a hotel near Gahi Khan chowk when security forces in a raid killing him and one other militant, police said yesterday.

"Usman Saifullah who is a senior commander of the LeJ and its head in Baluchistan was killed today (Sunday) after a shootout with security forces," senior police official Bashir Brohi told reporters. Another security official said that the Frontier Corps assisted by some intelligence officials had raided a hotel near Gahi Khan chowk on the Saryab road in which two militants were killed and one other arrested.