PESHAWAR: At least 10 Pakistani soldiers and 23 militants were killed early Friday in a gunfight in a restive northwestern tribal area, officials said.

The clash took place in Tirah valley of lawless Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan.

“At least 10 soldiers embraced martyrdom and three others were wounded,” a senior security official told AFP.

“At least 23 militants were killed in the fighting which lasted for nearly six hours,” he added.

“Militants from Lashkar-e-Islam group attacked our outpost and a gunfight erupted,” Khyber administrator Mutahir Zeb Khan said, (According to Reuters, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan was the group behind the attack).

Military officials in Peshawar confirmed the attack and casualties.

Lashkar-e-Islam, which is led by warlord Mangal Bagh, is said to be linked to Taliban militants and criminal gangs.

It was not possible to independently verify the official account of the incident as access to the area is restricted by the military.

Some 18,000 people fled their homes in Khyber in October last year amid fears of a fresh onslaught of fighting between the army and Islamist militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban.

Pakistan's seven tribal districts near the Afghan border are rife with homegrown insurgents and are strongholds of Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives.