Funeral prayer of the soldiers, who embraced martyrdom in an operation in North Waziristan yesterday, was held in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also attended the funeral prayer.

Later, bodies of the martyrs were sent to their respective native towns for burial with full military honour.

Yesterday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated that security forces have raided militant hideouts setting off a shootout that left seven soldiers and nine militants dead.

The military said the operation was carried out in the Gharlamai and Spera Kunar Algad areas of North Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan.

According to ISPR, an army captain was among those killed. The military provided no details about the militants killed.

Pakistan has carried out a number of military operations in North Waziristan in recent years and claims to have eliminated militant safe havens.