Attacks across Pakistan, including school shooting, kill over a dozen

At least 14 people have been killed in separate attacks across Pakistan, police and local media reported.

In the two incidents taking place in the country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's Kurram district on Thursday, gunmen killed seven people, including five teachers.

The attack appeared to be in retaliation for another attack shortly before in which another teacher was shot dead, official said.

The shooting occurred at a high school in the remote town of Parachinar, nestled on the border with neighbouring Afghanistan.

Students at the school were taking annual exams when the shooting took place.

READ MORE: Fear and despair grip Pakistan's Swat as TTP foothold increases

Footage screened on local broadcaster Dunya News showed dozens of people gathered in the courtyard of a local government hospital as paramedics were shifting the bodies from ambulances to the emergency section of the facility.

Dubbing the attack a result of an old land dispute, Mohammad Azam Khan, the acting chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the culprits behind this "heinous act will not be spared."

The motive behind the killings, however, remained unclear, according to local police who said they were gathering more information and investigating the incident.

Earlier in the day, a shootout with militants elsewhere in the region killed at least six Pakistani soldiers.

The recent spate of violence underscores the challenges the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is facing amid a surge in militant attacks across the country in recent months.

READ MORE: What is Pakistan offering this terrorist group in return for peace?