Police, gangs fight deadly gun battle in Pakistan's biggest city

Pakistani police were embroiled in a deadly gunbattle with gangsters Wednesday in a notorious slum district of the country's biggest city.

Police in Karachi sent 100 officers and four armored vehicles into the city's Lyari district Wednesday in a bid to arrest underworld kingpins who have been fighting a bloody turf war, Lyari police chief Imran Shaukat said.

But officers met with stiff resistance from gang members armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades.

Shaukat said there were "a few casualties, some fatal." He said at least one gangster was killed and police also suffered casualties.

Pakistan's new government has vowed to improve law and order in Karachi, a chaotic port city of 15 million that functions as the hub of both Pakistan's legal and illegal economies.

Gangs operating in Lyari, an impoverished district with warren-like streets, are accused of involvement in extortion, kidnappings, drugs and weapons trafficking.

Shaukat said police were bringing in reinforcements and hoped to finish the operation Wednesday evening.