Gunmen open fire on a vehicle carrying UN staff in northwest Pakistan. No casualties

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Unknown gunmen opened fire on Tuesday on a bulletproof vehicle carrying local staff working for a UN development agency in Pakistan’s restive northwest, which borders Afghanistan. No one was injured, police said.

The attack on the United Nations Office for Project Services vehicle took place in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in the Khyber, said Abdul Salam, the police chief there.

He said all people in the vehicle were safe.

Salam said police have launched a search operation to locate and arrest those involved in the attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility and the Pakistani Taliban said in a statement that they were not behind the attack.

Pakistan has seen an increase in militant attacks in recent years, especially in the northwest.

Authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban for previous attacks on security forces and civilians.

The insurgents, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, are a separate group but are an ally of the Afghan Taliban. The group has been strengthened since the Afghan Taliban power seized in Afghanistan in 2021.