Islamist militants rammed an explosive-laden truck into a police station in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 23 soldiers, the army said, the latest attack in recent months claimed by a Pakistani Taliban group.

The bomb and gun attack occurred in the district of Dera Ismail Khan on the edge of the lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, the army said in a statement.

Two security officials had earlier put the toll at 24.

The police station was being used by the Pakistani Army as a base camp.