PESHAWAR: Militants opened fire on Pakistani villagers Tuesday, killing at least five civilians and wounding another six in the tribal badlands bordering Afghanistan, government officials said.

The attack took place in the Shalobar area of Khyber, part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt where the military is fighting homegrown militants led by warlord Mangal Bagh.

“Five villagers were killed and six were injured,” Sayed Ahmad Jan, a senior government official in Khyber, told AFP by telephone.

“Militants came in a pick-up and fired on the villagers who were standing on the side of the road,” Jan added.

An intelligence official in Khyber said villagers were helping the Frontier Corps (FC) dislodge militants, confirming that paramilitary troops had launched a search operation in the area on Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Shalobar, seven people, including two children and three women, were wounded when a mortar shell slammed into their home, Jan said.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds in Pakistan's tribal belt, also a rear base for Taliban fighting US troops in Afghanistan.