At least three soldiers of the Pakistan Army were martyred in the Dewagar area of North Waziristan District during an exchange of fire with terrorists from across the border in Afghanistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement on Saturday.

“As per credible intelligence reports, due to fire of own troops, terrorists suffered heavy casualties,” the military’s media wing said in the statment.

During the exchange, Havaldar Taimoor, resident of Jhelum, Naik Shoaib, resident of Attock, and Sepoy Saqib Nawaz, resident of Sialkot, embraced martyrdom, the ISPR said.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that the Afghan government will not allow conduct of such activities in the future,” the ISPR said.

The army is determined to defend Pakistan’s borders against the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve, it added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a message on Twitter, condemned the attack.

Earlier on April 14, eight soldiers were martyred in two terrorist attacks in North Waziristan.