Criminal gangs are increasingly targeting the homes of wealthy Bradford families in Pakistan.

A second family has been terrorised and their home plundered by armed robbers in the Mirpur district.

A ten-man gang brandishing Kalashnikov submachine guns and swords burst into the home of travel firm boss Latif Bhatti.

Mr Bhatti, who runs Bhatti Travel in Legrams Lane, Bradford, was struck in the face with a Kalashnikov and a sword was held to his throat.

Last month, Matloob Hussain, of Great Horton, Bradford, and three generations of his family feared they would be murdered by a seven-strong gang who held them hostage while ransacking cash and gold from their Mirpur home.

The two families are now warning Bradford families not to carry valuables and large sums of cash when they travel to Pakistan.

The masked gang struck at the Bhattis' home in Mirpur Chasawari as they slept at 2am last Monday.

Mr Bhatti, of Cecil Avenue, Great Horton, was in the house with his wife, sister and brother-in-law, also of Great Horton.

His brother, Mohammed Rafiq, also of Cecil Avenue, said up to ten men ransacked £4,000 and gold jewellery after breaking into the large house which is surrounded by high fencing.

Mr Bhatti needed hospital treatment for a wound that bled heavily after he was smashed in the face with a gun. His brother-in-law, Mohammed Majid, was beaten up by the gang.

The men and women were trussed up together and threatened with guns while the house was plundered.

Mr Rafiq said: "They were told: Keep quiet. If you scream, or anything, we will shoot you'.

"My brother had a sword put to his throat and they cut off the phone lines. After the robbers fled, one of the women screamed for help, alerting neighbours."

Mr Rafiq said the police acted swiftly and he himself had spoken to a senior officer.

"I think they are near to catching them," he said. "They are working very hard."

Mr Hussain said the police had arrested two suspects in connection with the robbery at his home. They were being held in custody and questioned.

He believed up to four more gang members were on the run.

Mr Hussain said another Bradford family fell victim to highway robbers in Mirpur only three days after his own terror ordeal.

A vehicle pulled in front of their people carrier and they were held up at gunpoint and stripped of cash and valuables.

Fifteen members of Mr Huss-ain's family were bundled into an attic by robbers who threatened to shoot dead a three-year-old.

The gang took more than £13,000 in cash and gold jewellery.

Mr Hussain, who was injured by a vicious kick from one of the gang, said he had no chance of ever getting the cash or treasured family jewellery back.

He said: "I would like to warn visitors from this country going to Pakistan not to carry large sums of money and jewellery.

"The robbers in Mirpur are getting inside information from the community.

"We have suffered a lot and I don't want others to go through what me and my family went through.

"I still have nightmares and flashbacks.

"I know there are other families in Bradford who have been the victims of kidnap and robbery in Pakistan but it is often not reported in the UK.

"They are often frightened to speak out."

The Foreign and Common-wealth Office is now advising travellers to Pakistan to be extra-vigilant as crime in the country escalates.

Its website states: "Criminal violence, including armed car-jacking, robbery, kidnap and murder is common."

By Jenny Loweth