Police in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said on Saturday that four people, including three Afghan nationals, were killed in an armed confrontation during an operation in Peshawar.

According to a police statement, the men were long wanted and allegedly involved in a series of armed robberies. Police said they acted on intelligence about a “gang of robbers,” but the suspects opened fire when officers arrived at the scene. The police returned fire, killing all four.

Authorities said the group had been operating since 2003, often using police uniforms to carry out robberies. In one of their most recent incidents, the suspects reportedly stole millions of rupees in cash and jewellery from a doctor’s home.

Masood Ahmad Bangash, a senior Peshawar police officer, told Geo News that the identities of the four men had been confirmed, and three were Afghan nationals. He said the group was wanted by police in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Nowshera, and had committed two major robberies in recent days.

Police said they recovered several weapons, including AK-47 rifles, two pistols and multiple motorcycles, from the scene.

The Taliban’s embassy in Pakistan has not yet commented on the deaths of the Afghan citizens.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan over security issues. Earlier this week, the Taliban announced the arrest of two Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province on charges of robbery.