4 Pakistani soldiers killed in separate clashes

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ISLAMABAD

At least four Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in two separate clashes on Thursday, the military said.

In a statement, it said Indian troops initiated "unprovoked" cease-fire violation in Dewa sector, killing a soldier along the Line of Control, a de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir valley between India and Pakistan.

The nuclear-armed rivals hold Kashmir in parts but claim it in full. China also controls a part of the contested region, but it is India and Pakistan who have fought two wars over the Himalayan region since partition in 1947.

Meanwhile, three soldiers were killed in exchange of fire during an operation against militant hideouts in North Waziristan, a northwestern district near the Afghan border.

Two terrorists including an IED [Improvised Explosive Device] expert were also killed in the intelligence-based operation, the army said.

North Waziristan, once dubbed as 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).

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 and civilians.

In 2018, the tribal agencies were given the status of districts and merged with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.