attack in Pakistan
attack in PakistanReuters

Gunmen burst into a hotel in northern Pakistan early Sunday, killing nine foreigners, the interior minister said, according to CNN.

The victims included six Ukrainians and three Chinese, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told parliament on Sunday.

He said a Chinese man managed to escape.

"The attackers abducted two local guides and demanded they take them to where some foreigners are staying to carry out the attack," Khan said. "One (guide) was then killed, another escaped and has been detained by police for questioning."

Earlier, officials said 10 foreigners had been killed.

The attack took place at around midnight, a senior police official. "This was not a big hotel, just a small log/hut type lodge, so no major security," he said, according to CNN.

A spokesman for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan said an affiliated group carried out the attack.

A spokesman claimed that the reason that the Pakistan Taliban targeted the foreigners was due to the international community’s supports drone strikes.

The attack was also to avenge the killing of Emir Wali-ur-Rehman in a drone strike in Waziristan last month, the spokesman said, according to CNN.

Rehman was the Pakistan Taliban's No. 2 leader.