PESHAWAR: Three people were killed and at least five others were injured in a gunfight in Peshawar late Friday, police said.

The clashes erupted when unknown gunmen fired at a police van patrolling the suburbs of Peshawar.

"One policeman was killed while four others were wounded in an exchange of fire with militants. Two militants were also killed in the fight," Rana Omer, a senior police official in Peshawar, told AFP.

"The militants fired at our mobile team which was on a routine patrol in Pushtakhara area at night. We responded to the gunfire and killed two attackers while one escaped after being wounded," he said.

Another senior police official, Mubarak Zeb, confirmed the incident.

Peshawar has suffered numerous Taliban attacks but it was not immediately clear that who was behind this ambush.

The city suffered the worst terror attack in Pakistani history in December when Taliban gunmen massacred more than 150 people, most of them children, at an army-run school.

Read: Taliban massacre 131 schoolchildren: Principal among 141 dead in attack on Army Public School, Peshawar

But recently then there has been a lull in violence. The last deadly attack in the city came in February when three heavily armed Taliban militants stormed a Shia mosque, killing 21 people.

Also read: 21 killed as Taliban storm Peshawar imambargah

Military operation Zarb-i-Azb was launched against insurgent hideouts in North Waziristan on June 15 following a brazen militant attack on Karachi's international airport and the failure of peace talks between the government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) negotiators.

Officials say nearly 3,000 militants have been killed since the launch of the latest offensive.