At least 10 Pakistani frontier police were killed in a militant attack on an outpost near the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Thursday's attack, claimed by Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, comes as Pakistan battles a resurgence of militant attacks in its rugged northwest, as well as a growing ethnic separatist insurgency in the south.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack in Dera Ismail Khan, the ministry's statement said.

Three senior police sources said a large group of militants stormed the outpost, killing personnel of the frontier constabulary security force.

In a statement, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it retaliation for the killing of a senior leader, Ustad Qureshi.

He was one of nine people, including two suicide bombers, killed in an intelligence-based operation in the district of Bajaur, bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan's military said in a statement on Thursday.

The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group that now rules Afghanistan after US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.

Islamabad says TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and says the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.