Assailants used vehicle packed with explosives as well as suicide vests in attack that also involved a shootout.

Troops responding to the attack on Saturday in North Waziristan, a district in the restive province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killed six attackers, some of who were wearing suicide vests, according to the military statement.

While the military’s media wing did not say who was behind the attack, a newly formed group, Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad, claimed responsibility for it.

“The terrorists rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the post, followed by multiple suicide bombing attacks, which led to collapse of portion of a building” in which five security personnel were killed, the military said, adding that another two security force members died in subsequent fighting with the assailants.

A clearance operation was still under way in the area.

Residents told the Reuters news agency that an explosion shook doors and damaged windows during the attack.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and paid tribute to the troops who were “martyred”.

North Waziristan long served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other groups until the army claimed a few years back that it had cleared the region of rebel groups.

Occasional attacks have continued, however, raising concerns that the Pakistani Taliban are regrouping in the area.

The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but allies of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 as the United States and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout.

Since then the Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces, especially in the northwest.