Seven extremists were killed in a shootout in Pakistan’s wealthy Punjab province as police raided the group suspected of launching attacks on security posts, officials said Sunday.

Seven extremists were killed in a shootout in Pakistan's wealthy Punjab province as police raided the group suspected of launching attacks on security posts, officials said Sunday.

Gunfire erupted between police and 10 suspected militants early Sunday morning in a house where the group was holed up.

Police said the seven dead were killed by bullets from their own men.

"When the firing stopped, seven terrorists were found dead by the firing of their own accomplices and the remaining escaped in the darkness of the night," a police statement said.

The shootout occurred in Pakistan's central Punjab province about 56 kilometers (35 miles) west of Lahore.

Police said the mists belonged to the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and the banned sectarian group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ).

They were accused of planning attacks on security posts and law enforcement agencies in Punjab.  

Rights activists have blamed Pakistani police for staging raids to kill suspects they fear could be freed if tried in a court.

Pakistan launched a countrywide campaign against militancy called the National Action Plan in 2015 after a deadly Taliban attack on a Peshawar school killed more than 150 people, mostly children.