Peshawar: When suspected militants attacked a police station in Pakistan's volatile northwest on Sunday, four of its police officers were killed and another four were seriously injured, according to police.

An officer of the targeted police station, Nawaz Khan, claimed that the suspects attacked the station in the Lakki Marwat district with grenades and automatic weapons before escaping the scene overnight.

Before help could arrive, the attackers apparently ran away after running out of ammunition, according to Khan, who claimed that the on-duty police retaliated and called for reinforcements. The attackers were wanted by the police.

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Although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, has claimed responsibility for earlier attacks on police in the district.

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Six police officers were killed last month when militants ambushed a routine police patrol in the Dadewala neighbourhood of the Lakki Marwat district. The Dadewala ambush was blamed on the Pakistani Taliban. Although the militant group is separate from the Afghan Taliban, they are allies.

Late last month, a police officer and three family members who were in a nearby car were killed when a suicide bomber detonated himself close to a truck carrying police officers on their way to protect polio workers near Quetta, in southwest Pakistan. 23 other people were hurt in the bombing, mostly police.

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Bordering Afghanistan, where Taliban rule last year emboldened Pakistani Taliban, are the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the northwest and southwestern Baluchistan, respectively.