5 suspected militants killed in northwest Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan

Five suspected militants and an army soldier were killed in a clash in Pakistan's northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border on Sunday, the country's military said.

The latest clash occurred in the restive North Waziristan district, which has been an epicenter of fighting between the security forces and militants for years.

"Security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation on the reported presence of terrorists in North Waziristan District. During intense exchange of fire, five terrorists got killed," said a statement from the army.

It added that one soldier, Sepoy Shabbir Ahmed, was also killed in the fighting after "inflicting casualties upon the terrorists."

Weapons and ammunition, it further said, were also recovered from the killed militants who it said were involved in terrorist activities against security forces, targeted killings, and kidnapping for ransom.

North Waziristan -- once dubbed the heartland of militancy -- is one of seven former semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan where the army has conducted a series of operations since 2014 to eliminate the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of several militant outfits reportedly operating from bordering areas in Afghanistan.

Successive operations have pushed the TTP towards neighboring Afghanistan, and Islamabad claims the terrorist network has now set up bases across the border to attack Pakistani security forces.

The military operations also displaced over 1 million people, but the government claims most of them have returned to their homes.

The tribal agencies were recently given the status of districts and merged with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.