PESHAWAR (AP)– Army guards shot and killed three suspected suicide bombers and two other militants as they tried to enter a sprawling military firing range in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, police and the army said.

Four soldiers were wounded in the attack, which showed the persistent threat insurgents pose to Pakistan's security forces, especially those operating near the Afghan border.
Police official Akhtar Ali Shah said the assailants refused to stop for a check at the entrance to the range in the northwestern city of Mardan, prompting the guards to open fire.
The men wore suicide jackets that detonated when they were shot at, wounding the soldiers. Police had collected body parts of the attackers for DNA tests, Shah said.
The bombers were being given a cover by four “terrorists” and two of them were killed in a subsequent shooting, a Pakistan army statement said. Troops are searching for the two attackers who escaped, it said.