Islamabad, Oct 10 (IANS): Two policemen were killed and three others injured when militants attacked their vehicle in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday morning, police sources said.

The incident happened at about 8:50 a.m. (local time) in the Tank district of the province, where unknown assailants opened fire on the vehicle before fleeing the scene, sources from the district police told Xinhua news agency.

The vehicle was conducting routine patrols when it came under the attack, the sources added.

The injured policemen were rushed to a nearby hospital, where one of them is in critical condition.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, and security forces have cordoned off the area for investigations.

In another incident on Wednesday, three policemen were injured when a bomb went off in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to police officials.

The incident happened in the Bajaur district of the province when a roadside bomb exploded near the vehicle of police during routine patrolling, sources from Bajaur police told Xinhua.

The target was the police officials on duty. An investigation is underway, police sources said.

Following the incident, security forces and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital in the district.

Security forces cordoned off the area and kicked off a search operation in the surrounding areas to arrest the perpetrators of the terrorist attack.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Earlier, a soldier and two terrorists were killed when the Pakistani security forces thwarted a terrorist attack in the country's southwest Zhob district of Balochistan province.