Gunmen killed four Pakistani security forces and their driver in an attack in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, AFP reported, citing police.

A local police spokesman said their car was "targeted by armed militants" and caught fire during a shootout on Saturday. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

Earlier, gunmen killed 18 militants in an ambush in the restive southwestern province of Balochistan. The Baloch Liberation Army, which frequently carries out deadly attacks on security forces or Pakistanis from other provinces, claimed responsibility for the attack. Violence in Pakistan's border areas has risen sharply since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Pakistan has accused the Taliban government of failing to root out militants who launch attacks from Afghan territory.

Attacks in Pakistan in 2024, the deadliest year in nearly a decade, have killed more than 1,600 people, including 685 civilians and military security personnel, according to the Centre for Security Studies, a think tank based in Islamabad.