PESHAWAR: The death toll from an ambush on a convoy bringing supplies to a region besieged by sectarian fighting rose to 10 on Friday, police said, while up to six drivers have been kidnapped.

The Thursday ambush targeted a convoy of 33 vehicles set to resupply local traders in the northwest Kurram region with rice, flour and cooking oil, and two aid vehicles carrying essential medicine.

Kurram has been wracked by Sunni-Shiite violence for decades, but around 150 people have been killed in a fresh round of fighting which started in November and largely cut off the region to the outside world.

A local police officer speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP those killed in the ambush “include two security personnel, four drivers... and four civilians”.

“Additionally, there are reports that five to six drivers have been abducted by a local tribe,” he said, adding that six militants had been killed in a counter-attack.

An earlier toll reported Thursday said only one member of the security forces had been killed.

The local government of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and tribal leaders have touted numerous truces between the warring communities but none have stopped the violence.

“The situation in the area is extremely volatile,” said a local government official, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

The most recent peace deal was announced on January 1 but just days later an aid convoy en route to the area was also attacked, wounding several local officials and members of their security escort.