A Pakistani soldier was killed overnight in a shoot-out with militants near the Afghanistan border.
The shootout took place in a town in North Waziristan where militants have held a stronghold for decades, the Associated Press said citing a Pakistani military statement on Saturday.
The military had been conducting a search operation against militants in the area, the statement added.
The incident comes amid mounting tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan over key border closure and cross-border terror attacks.
On Wednesday, the Torkham border, which is the main point of transit for travelers and goods between the two neighbors, was closed by Pakistan after Taliban and Pakistani border guards exchanged heavy gunfire, killing at least eight people and wounding 20 others.
The Taliban blamed the Pakistani side for the skirmish, saying Pakistan border guards opened fire on Taliban forces while they were repairing an old security post close to the border.
Hundreds of vehicles loaded with supplies, including perishable goods, have been stopped by the Pakistani authorities at Karachi port, the Taliban said, adding that a large number of civilians, including children and elderly people, remain stranded on both sides.
Negotiations have failed to result in the reopening of the crossing so far.
Recently, Pakistan issued a demarche to the Taliban authority in Islamabad over the Chitral attack that left four Pakistani soldiers dead and five others wounded when Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants carried out intense attacks on military outposts in the northwestern region of Chitral.
Pakistan said that the TTP militants had coordinated the attacks from Afghanistan’s Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
