Gunmen kill 6 in attack on supply convoy in Pakistan

A paramilitary reinforcement unit was also ambushed and five soldiers killed.

"The attackers also torched three (border force) vehicles," a police officer told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

"A total of 15 people, including a female bystander, were injured, while six people, including five (border force) personnel, lost their lives," he said.

The official said helicopter gunships targeted hideouts in the mountains after the attack.

The local government of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and tribal leaders have announced numerous truces that have failed to last and key roads in and out of the district have been shut down in an attempt to quell the violence.

The most recent peace deal was announced on January 1 but an aid convoy en route to the area was attacked just days later, wounding several local officials and members of their security escort.

A "high-level" meeting, chaired by the chief minister in the provincial capital, Peshawar, ordered another operation in Lower Kurram, where clashes and ambushes occur frequently.

The feud between Sunnis and Shiites stems from decades-old tensions over farmland.

Members of the Shiite community are particularly vulnerable because they must pass through Sunni-majority neighbourhoods to reach essential services.