Five policemen killed in attack by gunmen in northwestern Pakistan
The attack occurred in the Karak district, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the border with Afghanistan.
Five policemen were killed on Tuesday when their van was ambushed in a bombing and shooting attack in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.
The attack took place in the Karak district of the province, according to a statement by Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
Provincial police said the vehicle was first targeted with improvised explosives before the attackers opened fire, killing four officers and the driver.
Condemning the attack, Naqvi said: "Attack on security personnel is a clear act of barbarity by brutal elements."
"The sacrifices of the martyrs will not go in vain; the state will respond with full force," he added.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned the attack. "Police have always played a frontline role in the war against terrorism," Sharif said.
A large number of security personnel have been deployed in the area to search for the attackers.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has in the past claimed responsibility for many such attacks.
Islamabad has blamed a recent surge in violence in Pakistan on terrorists who use Afghan soil to plan their attacks on security forces across the border. Kabul has denied the charges, saying Pakistan's security is an internal problem.