Three Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred in an exchange of fire with militants in the North Waziristan tribal district, the military's media wing said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, another soldier was martyred in an exchange of fire with Indian troops from across the Line of Control (LoC), it added.

In the first incident, security forces carried out two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) on terrorist hideouts in North Waziristan. Two suspected terrorists "including an IED (improvised explosive device) expert" were killed in the raids, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

During an exchange of fire with the militants, three soldiers were martyred. They were identified as Sepoy Azaib Ahmed, resident of Karak; Sepoy Zia Ul Islam, resident of Bannu; and Lance Naik Abbas Khan, resident of Orakzai district.

This comes less than two days after two soldiers were martyred and three others wounded in a terrorist attack on a security check-post in the Speenwam area of North Waziristan.

Officials told Dawn the terrorists had attacked the check-post with heavy weapons on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to an exchange of fire between them and security forces.

A search operation had been launched in the area to track down the attackers, according to officials.

On Monday night, militants had attacked another security post in the area in which one soldier was martyred and two others suffered injuries.

Sepoy martyred on LoC

In the second incident on Thursday, Indian troops initiated "unprovoked ceasefire violation" along the LoC in Dewa sector, the ISPR said.

"Pakistan Army troops responded promptly and inflicted heavy losses to [the] enemy in terms of men and material," the military's media wing added.

It said in an "intense exchange of fire", Sepoy Nabeel Liaqat, aged 28, a resident of Gujar Khan, embraced martyrdom while responding to the Indian ceasefire violation.