PESHAWAR: At least two soldiers and four militants were killed in an exchange of fire in North Waziristan near the Afghan border, the military said on Monday.

The clash took place during a clearance operation late Sunday in North Waziristan tribal district, where the military has been waging a major offensive against insurgents since June.

“Four terrorists were killed during clearance operation in Gharlamai area of North Waziristan. Two soldiers also embraced shahadat (martyrdom) in the exchange of fire,” a military statement said.

No other details of the clash were given but two intelligence officials said both soldiers and militants used heavy weapons.

North Waziristan has become a major base for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (Pakistani Taliban), which rose up against the state in 2007.

The army says it has killed more than 1,100 militants and lost more than 100 soldiers since the start of the operation.

But the number and identity of those killed is difficult to verify as there is little regular media access to the conflict zones.

Two peace committee volunteers killed in Tirah Valley blast

Two people were killed and two others were injured Monday in two separate Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts that took place in the Narai Baba area of Khyber Agency's Tirah Valley.

According to official sources, the first blast occurred near a peace committee post and left one person dead, who was said to be a peace volunteer of Tauheedul Islam (TI).

Two other TI activists also sustained injuries in the explosion.

In the second explosion, another peace committee volunteer was killed.

Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and foreign militants. These are also home to religious extremist organisations including the Al Qaeda.

Pakistan's military launched the operation ‘Khyber-1’ last month with air strikes against Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) hideouts in areas under the Mangal Bagh-led group’s control in Tirah and Bara.

The latest operation was launched amidst Zarb-i-Azb, a full-fledged military operation being conducted by the army against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militants in the North Waziristan tribal region.