ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police arrested 13 Islamist militants and seized suicide vests and heroin for export in raids they said had foiled major attacks in the country's south and east, officers said yesterday.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is battling Al-Qaida and Taliban militants blamed for scores of terrorist attacks over the last two years. On Aug 5, the campaign got a major boost when Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was believed to have been killed in a US missile strike close to the Afghan border, where the militants are strongest.

Six of the militants were arrested yesterday in two raids in the eastern city of Sargodha, police chief Usman Anwar said.