Islamabad [Pakistan], November 20 (ANI): Two police stations have been vacated in northwest Pakistan amid rising militancy in the region and stalled peace talks between Tehreek-e-Taliban pakistan and the government.

The residents believe the police stations in the South Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province were vacated out of fear of the Taliban, who oppose the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas with KP, The Nation reported.

This incident comes amid the resurgence of militancy in the northwest part of the country.

Eight security personnel were killed in two separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday. The Dawn reported that the security personnel were killed in Lakki Marwat and Bajaur districts.

The first incident, claimed by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), occurred in the Lakki Marwat's Kurrum Par area when militants opened fire on a police van, killing six personnel.

In a separate incident, two soldiers and a militant were killed in a clash near the Pak-Afghan border area in the Charmang region of the Bajaur district.

Pakistan military's media wing said the security forces and militants exchanged gunfire early on Wednesday morning in the Hilal Khel area near the Afghan border. It added that a militant was killed and his weapons and ammunition were seized.

Terrorism continues to be one of Pakistan's foremost problems, said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, as he condemned the attack on a police van in Lakki Marwat.

"Let us make no mistake. Terrorism continues to be one of Pakistan's foremost problems. Our armed forcespolice have valiantly fought the scourge. No words are enough to condemn the terrorist attack on a police van in Lakki Marwat. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families," Sharif tweeted on Thursday.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah also condemned the attack on the police personnel in Lakki Marwat.

The federal minister said he sought a report from the Chief Secretary and IG Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the incident. (ANI)