DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Suspected Taliban militants killed three Pakistani military intelligence officials in a tribal region in the northwest on Wednesday, intelligence officials and police said.

The Pakistani Taliban, seen as the biggest security threat to the government, have become more brazen since their ally Osama bin Laden was killed in a US raid in Pakistan in May.

The militants have carried out high-profile suicide bombings and attacked a major naval base and western targets.

In Wednesday's attack, militants ambushed a vehicle carrying officials from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), opening fire from several directions on a road in the tribal region of Bannu. One intelligence official was wounded.

“The vehicle belonged to the ISI and was attacked with Kalashnikovs. Three people were killed and one was critically wounded,” Sajjad Khan, a senior police official, told Reuters.

They were low-ranking ISI officials.