Six Pakistani security personnel and 17 Taliban militants were killed in an overnight gun fight in the restive Kurram tribal region of northwest Pakistan, security officials said on Wednesday.

A group of about 50 heavily armed Taliban militants attacked Pakistani troops while they were conducting a search operation in a village in Kurram Agency late Tuesday night.

The militants gunned down six security personnel and injured four more. Seventeen militants were killed when the troops repelled the attack, officials said. Additional troops were sent to the area after the skirmish.

Hundreds of people have died in clashes between rival Sunni and Shia tribesmen in Kurram Agency over the past four years. In July last year, Pakistan launched an offensive in the region against Taliban militants.

Troops are still engaged in search and cordon operations in the area.