Violence across Pakistan killed at least 27 people Wednesday.

Pakistani security officials say at least four government troops and 17 militants were killed during clashes in Kurram tribal agency in the country's northwest.

The officials say troops were conducting a search operation in the Jogi village when they were attacked by a group of militants.

The death toll could not be independently verified since journalists do not have access to the area.

In the southern port city of Karachi, gunmen on motorcycles shot dead three Shi'ite lawyers and wounded another in an apparent sectarian attack. Officials said the dead included a father and a son.

In Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a car carrying three Shi'ite Muslims, killing all of them.

Sunni militants have carried out a number of attacks against Pakistan's minority-Shi'ite Muslim community.

Also Wednesday, local police said at least nine miners were feared dead after they were buried in a landslide in the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Authorities say heavy rain was hampering rescuers who were using shovels to try to uncover the trapped miners in the mountainous village of Tharnawai.