PESHAWAR: Militants on Thursday shot dead three police officers in the area of Hangu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where troops are waging an offensive to battle a homegrown insurgency.

The militants opened fire on a police van when it was patrolling the area of Kotki, which is six kilometers from Hangu.

Two policemen received injuries by the attack who were taken to a nearby hospital.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the killings but police blamed Taliban militants for the attack, saying they fired on a patrol party and fled.

“Taliban militants are active in this area and they are responsible for the attack,” Hangu police chief Mian Mohammad Saeed told AFP by telephone, adding that three officers were killed.

Gul Jamal, another senior police official, confirmed the incident and blamed “terrorists” for the attack.

“We have cordoned off the area and have launched a search operation,” Jamal said.