10 security personnel killed in militant attack in northwest Pakistan, say sources

At least 10 Pakistani frontier police were killed in a militant attack on an outpost near the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, police sources said.

Thursday's attack, claimed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), comes as Pakistan battles a resurgence of militant attacks in its rugged northwest, as well as a growing ethnic separatist insurgency in the south.

Three senior police sources confirmed the attack, saying a large group of militants stormed the outpost, killing members of the frontier constabulary security force.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is a sensitive one.

The attack was confirmed by Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, chief minister of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in a statement on Friday that condemned it, but did not state the number of deaths.

Islamabad says the TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and says the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.