Naveed Akbar Khan says officials found the bodies shortly after midnight on Sunday after being notified by one policeman who had escaped. Another policeman was also found seriously wounded.

Khan says the slain policemen were found in the Jabai area of Frontier Region Peshawar, part of Pakistan's troubled tribal region. Khan is a senior political official in the area.

The 23 policemen went missing before dawn Thursday when militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two posts in Frontier Region Peshawar. Two policemen were also killed in the attacks.