HANGU: At least four Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel and two private security guards embraced martyrdom when militants attacked a gas plant in Tall Tehsil of Hangu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said on Tuesday.

DSP Tall Irfan Khan told Geo News that terrorists attacked the private gas extraction plant in the mountainous region during which six security personnel lost their lives.

The police official said that a heavy contingent of police and Frontier Corps is conducting search operation in the area.

A foreign news agency reported that up to 50 militants attacked the plant in the Hangu district near the Afghan border.

No group has claimed responsibility.

The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Various militant factions, including the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have operated out of remote mountains in the northwest for years, launching attacks on the security forces and infrastructure in their campaign against the state.