KARACHI, Pakistan

At least three security personnel were killed and six others, including rescuers, were wounded when unidentified gunmen ambushed ambulances in northwestern Pakistan, officials said Monday.

Muhammad Asif, a spokesman for emergency service Rescue 1122, told local media outlet Nukta that two ambulances were transporting five injured members of the paramilitary Federal Constabulary when the attackers opened fire in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Three FC personnel were killed, while six others were wounded, including two rescuers,” he said.

The assailants set one of the ambulances ablaze after the shooting. Some of the wounded suffered severe burns and were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Karak District Police Officer Saood Khan told local newspaper Dawn that the attack followed an earlier assault on a security checkpost using a quadcopter drone, which injured several personnel.

The wounded were being transferred to a hospital when the ambulances were targeted, he said.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it blamed on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and outlawed Baloch separatist groups.

Islamabad accuses the TTP of operating from neighboring Afghanistan, a charge the Taliban-led government in Kabul has repeatedly denied.

Pakistani jets carried out airstrikes in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan early Sunday, targeting what Islamabad described as militant hideouts. Afghan officials said civilians were killed and vowed retaliation.