ISLAMABAD: Three policemen were killed and two passers-by injured in a gun attack on a police van in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police said on Monday, amid a surge in militancy in the region.

The northwestern Pakistani province, which borders Afghanistan, has seen multiple attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups that have killed dozens, including security personnel and law enforcers, this month.

The latest attack took place in KP's Tank district, where unidentified gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle early Monday.

"Unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on police in the Wazirabad area, leaving three policemen martyred and two civilians injured," Tank police spokesman Ibrahim Khan told Arab News, adding a heavy contingent of police was dispatched to the area to hunt down the attackers.

The official said the injured civilians were shifted to a hospital and further investigation into the incident was ongoing.

The attack follows a gun-and-bomb assault on a police compound in KP’s Kohat on Sept. 18, which killed 23 people, including 17 police officers, according to police and counterterrorism officials. A militant faction led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur claimed responsibility for the attack, which has triggered cross-border strikes between Pakistan and Afghanistan since Sept. 21.

On Saturday, the TTP claimed responsibility for an attack near the Aman Mela checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan district that killed at least 12 people and wounded over 30, according to police officials.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering TTP and other militants who Islamabad says use Afghan territory to plan and carry out attacks across the border. Kabul denies providing militants safe havens and says Pakistan’s security problems are an internal matter.