A Taliban suicide attacker in Karachi on Thursday killed one of Pakistan’s best-known police commanders, famed for his fearless work tackling militants in the city.

A Taliban suicide attacker in Karachi on Thursday killed one of Pakistan's best-known police commanders, famed for his fearless work tackling militants in the city.

Chaudhry Aslam, who had survived numerous assassination attempts in the past, died along with two other officers when a bomber targeted a police convoy on an expressway in eastern Karachi.

The sprawling port city is Pakistan's largest conurbation and economic heart but has been plagued for years by brutal ethnic, political, sectarian violence.

The bomber smashed his vehicle into Aslam's convoy and he and two other policemen were killed, Iqbal Mehmood, a senior officer with the criminal investigation department, told AFP.

The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attack, warning others who target them that they would meet the same fate.

"Yes, we have killed Chaudhry Aslam and claim the responsibility of his killing," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP over the phone from an undisclosed location.

"We attacked him earlier also but he survived. He has killed, tortured and wounded our fighters... finally, we have sent him towards his end.

"We warn other police and security officials who are brutal to and torture our fighters that their fate will be no different."

The Taliban had previously tried to kill Aslam in September 2011 in a huge explosion that tore off the front of his house in a smart area of the city.

After that attack, he made a defiant appearance before the media, saying: "I will give my life but I won't bow to terrorists."

Earlier on Thursday Aslam had claimed the killing of three suspected members of the Pakistani Taliban in an encounter in the city.

Police are currently involved in an operation aimed at clearing Karachi of militants and hardcore criminals including hired killers, gun runners and drug peddlers.