Islamabad - Unknown gunmen killed six police officers and two civilians in a raid on a police check point in Pakistan's central province of Punjab on Saturday, a security official said.

The attack took place around 3:30 am (2230 GMT Friday) in the Qudrat Abad area of Mianwali district, said local police chief Malik Tassadaq Hayat.

According to Hayat the attackers first gunned down two volunteers from Civil Defence guarding the post and later blew up check post building with explosive material. As a result six policemen sleeping in the post were buried under the debris and died.

Earlier Hayat's deputy said seven policemen died in the strike. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the strike and Hayat refrained from mentioning any group. "It is a terrorist attack," he said.

Mianwali is located close to the country's North West Frontier Province where Taliban militants have in recent weeks carried out dozens of attacks on law enforcers and political leaders.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz heads the provincial government in Punjab, condemned the Mianwali attack. (dpa)