Islamabad: In a significant development, Pakistani police on December 15 claimed to have foiled a bid to kill US diplomats in the coastal city of Karachi and arrested three men along with a huge quantity of explosives in this connection.

The three, belonging to the little known Harkat Jihad-ul Alaami outfit, were arrested on December 14 for plotting to kill American diplomats, inspector general of police, Sindh Province, Syed Kamal Shah, told reporters.

He said they were arrested with 10 kg of explosive material aluminium nitrate, which was hidden in 250 bags.

Shah said the trio planned to kill two US diplomats by blowing up their explosive- laden car in Shara-e-Faisal area of Karachi.

The arrested men have been identified as Asif Zaheer, Sohail Noor and Mohammed Yousaf, Shah said.

Zaheer is also considered to be the main culprit in the bomb blast at Sheraton Hotel in Karachi in which 14 people, including 11 French engineers, were killed in May.

PTI