Militants attacked a security forces camp in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, sparking an hours-long gunbattle that left at least three officers and one assailant dead.

Axar.az reports, citing AP, seventeen security personnel were wounded in the assault in Hangu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local police official Nazar Mohammad. He said security forces quickly responded and launched a search operation in the nearby mountains to track down the attackers who fled.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid tribute to the slain officers in a statement and directed authorities to provide the best possible medical treatment to the wounded.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. Although separate from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP is allied with them, and its fighters and leaders have hideouts in Afghanistan.