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Pakistani police in shootout kill former head of outlawed Sunni sectarian group, 13 others

Associated Press
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FILE - In this July 15, 2011, file photo, Malik Ishaq, a leader of the banned Sunni Muslim group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is greeted by supporters with rose-petals upon his arrival at his hometown in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan, after his release from jail. Pakistani police gunned down Ishaq, one of the country's most-feared Sunni militant leaders, and 13 followers in a mysterious pre-dawn shootout Wednesday, July 29, 2015, killing a man believed to behind the slaughter of hundreds of the nation's minority Shiites. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this July 15, 2011, file photo, Malik Ishaq, center, a leader of the banned Sunni Muslim group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and his colleagues, raise hands in response their supporters who greeted him with rose-petals upon his arrival at his hometown in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan, after his release from jail. Pakistani police gunned down Ishaq, one of the country's most-feared Sunni militant leaders, and 13 followers in a mysterious pre-dawn shootout Wednesday, July 29, 2015, killing a man believed to behind the slaughter of hundreds of the nation's minority Shiites. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer, File) (The Associated Press)

CORRECTS INFORMATION ABOUT CIRCUMSTANCES OF ISHAQ'S DEATH - FILE - In this July 15, 2011, file photo, Malik Ishaq, a leader of the banned Sunni Muslim group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, is greeted by supporters with rose-petals upon his arrival at his hometown in Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan, after his release from jail. Ishaq, one of Pakistan’s most-feared Islamic militant leaders, believed to be behind the killing of scores of minority Shiites, was gunned down along with 13 associates during a militant assault on a police convoy that was transporting him from prison on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer, File) (The Associated Press)

A Pakistan government official says police have killed the former head of an outlawed Sunni group along with 13 of his associates in a shootout.

Shuja Khanzada, the provincial home minister in the eastern Punjab province, said Malik Ishaq was killed before dawn Wednesday in the district of Muzaffargarh.

He said police arrested Ishaq about a week ago and that officers were taking him to a place for questioning when a group of armed men tried to snatch him from police. Khanzada said police commandos returned fire and that the shootout continued for two hours.

He said when the firing stopped, officers found Ishaq and 13 of his associates had been killed.

Ishaq's outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi group is accused of killing hundreds of minority Shiite Muslims in Pakistan.