Two Pakistani policemen and a bank security guard were killed on Thursday when gunmen of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan opened fire at the security forces in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, authorities said.

The militants shot dead two on-duty police constables at a vegetable market in Mingora city, the capital of Swat district, while the security guard of a private bank, injured in the firing by the gunmen, succumbed to injuries later.

The banned terror outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.

A heavy contingent of police rushed to the site and launched a massive search operation to search for the attackers who fled from the scene.

Local communities staged protest demonstrations against the upsurge in militancy in the district and demanded stern action against elements involved in terrorist activities.

Recently, Pakistan has been hit by a wave of terrorist activities orchestrated by the banned terror outfit.

Earlier this week, authorities in Pakistan declined an offer from TTP to resume talks, citing their previous negative experience with dialogue.

In November last year, the TTP called off an indefinite ceasefire agreed with the federal government and ordered its militants to carry out attacks on Pakistan's security forces.

On January 30, a Pakistan Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up during the afternoon prayers in a mosque in Peshawar, killing 101 people and injuring more than 200 others.

In February, heavily-armed TTP militants stormed the Karachi Police chief's office in Pakistan's most populous city, sparking gunfire that killed three rebels and four others, including two police constables.

The TTP was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007.

The outfit, which is believed to be close to Al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

The TTP has also orchestrated the heinous Army Public School attack in Peshawar in 2014, in which over 130 students were killed.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.