4 Pakistani soldiers, 4 terrorists killed in clash in South Waziristan

At least four Pakistani soldiers have been killed after terrorists opened fire on a security post in South Waziristan's Makeen, the military said on Friday.

At least four Pakistani soldiers have been killed after terrorists opened fire on a security post in South Waziristan's Makeen, the military said on Friday. The attack took place late on Thursday.

In a statement, Pakistan's Army media affairs wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said troops responded promptly and killed four terrorists. "During the exchange of fire, four soldiers embraced shahadat," Dawn quoted the statement.

The soldiers were identified as Lance Naik Imran Ali, Sepoy Atif Jahangir, Sepoy Aneesur Rehman and Sepoy Aziz. "Area sanitisation in progress," the ISPR statement said.

There has been a sharp rise over the last year in attacks on security forces and civilians in North Waziristan district. South Waziristan and North Waziristan, which are two among the seven former semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan also known as FATA, served as headquarters for local and foreign terrorists until 2017.

The army claimed it has cleared the mountainous region of terrorists following several operations to eliminate the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to Al Jazeera. Successive operations have pushed the TTP towards neighbouring Afghanistan.

Islamabad claims the group has now set up bases across the border to attack Pakistani security forces and civilians. (ANI)