PESHAWAR: Police say gunmen have shot to death two workers at a small Sufi Muslim shrine in northwest Pakistan.

Local police official Iqbal Khan says the bodies of the men were found on Friday at the shrine of Ghazi Shah Baba in the northwestern city of Mardan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Mardan lies 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Earlier in the week, militants killed six people at a shrine of a Sufi saint in the port city of Karachi.

Khan says an investigation is underway to determine whether the two attacks are connected.

Checkpost attacked

Militants attacked the Manzoor Shaheed checkpost in the limits of Badbher police station near Matani area in the outskirts of Peshawar.

Security forces retaliated with gunfire.

At least one militant was killed in the exchange of fire which was ongoing since Friday morning, according to security sources.

Additional contingents of security personnel were called in to the attack site.