MIRAMSHAH, Dec 18: Two children were killed and six members of a family were severely injured in an exchange of fire between security forces and militants near Miramshah in North Waziristan on Monday night, sources said.

Local people said troops bombed Palangzai and Banda villages near Miramshah, damaging several houses, after 11 rockets had been fired at the Banda checkpoint despite a ceasefire announced by militants to mark Eidul Azha.

The two children were killed in an attack on the house of an Afghan national in Palangzai. The injured, among them a woman, were brought to a hospital in Miramshah.

An official told Dawn that a rocket had hit a helipad near a base of paramilitary forces, slightly damaging a helicopter and military vehicles.

AFP adds: One soldier was injured when militants fired 12 mortar rounds and two rockets at a checkpoint in Miramshah, the military said in a statement.

At another location in the city, two soldiers were injured when militants fired 25 mortar rounds and seven rockets, it said.