Islamabad, Sep 4 (Xinhua) Pushtoon militants who fought against the US-led invasion of Afghanistan have formed a new anti-Shia militant group in Pakistan, the Daily Times newspaper reported Monday.

Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials learnt of the new group from interrogations of three men arrested for suspected links with the assassination of prominent Shia leader Allama Hassan Turabi. He was killed July 14 by a suicide bombing outside his house in Karachi.

The suspects told investigators the group was planning suicide attacks against Shia leaders, said the FIA team in a report sent to the Pakistani interior ministry.

The new militant group is led by Mufti Ilyas and Hazrat Ali from Darra Adam Khel, a town in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), located between Peshawar and Kohat, very close to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, said the Daily Times report.

Its members include men who recently fought against the US forces in Afghanistan, and have links with Abdullah Mehsud, the militant leader responsible for the attack on Chinese engineers at the Gomal Zam Dam site.

FIA said the new group is active in Quetta, Karachi and other major cities in Pakistan, and has established a supply line of weapons and ammunition between Darra Adam Khel and Karachi.

Pakistan's interior ministry has directed the provincial chief secretaries and Islamabad chief commissioner to identify members of the group operating in their areas. Security officials in Waziristan have also been put on alert.