The bullets were 30mm in length and de-coloured and seemed to be old, a police officer said.

Over a dozen live shells of an anti-aircraft gun were found from a plot located about half a kilometre from the Banigala residence of Prime Minister Imran Khan, police said.

They said a senior officer of a foreign mission spotted the ammunition lying in the plot adjacent to the prime minister’s house and informed the police. A patrolling team reached the spot and cordoned off the area.

Teams from different police wings, including Counter-Terrorism Force (CTD), Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) later seized 18 bullets of the anti-craft gun.

The bullets were 30mm in length and de-coloured and seemed to be old, a police officer said.

He said because of the private residence of the prime minister, search and combing operations were conducted on a regular basis in the area. Recently, the area was scanned and declared cleared.

Circumstances suggested that someone had brought the ammunition to the plot during the last couple of days and tried to hide them in the garbage there, he added.

The official said the ammunition was shifted to a safe place and would be sent to a lab for forensic analysis.

Some reports suggested that the rounds found were from the 1988 Ojhri Camp tragedy that occurred during the regime of Ziaul Haq.