Karachi, (AA): Ten suspected Taliban and a soldier have been killed in a clash in restless South Waziristan tribal area, a former headquarters of Pakistani Taliban, raising the total number of militant casualties in the region to 53 on Thursday, officials said.

A security official who wished not to be quoted told Anadolu Agency that the clash had occurred in the remote town of Laddah near the Afghan border located 30 kilometers off Wana, the administrative headquarters of South Waziristan.

Another soldier was injured in the clash, the official said.

Some 43 suspected militants were killed in adjoining North Waziristan in Pakistani army airstrikes earlier on Thursday.

South Waziristan — one of the seven semi-autonomous tribal areas of Pakistan — has been a battleground between the army and the Taliban militants since 2009 after army launched a full-scale operation against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant network following a brazen attack on the army headquarters in Rawalpindi. Nearly all the major towns, including the capital Wana are under army control.

The military operation has displaced over 500,000 tribesmen, of which over 100,000 have been sent back to their homes, since 2010.

Since last June, a similar operation has been ongoing in adjoining North Waziristan, in which over 3,000 suspected Taliban militants, and over 350 soldiers, have been killed in airstrikes, clashes and landmine blasts.

The North Waziristan operation has also displaced around 1 million tribesmen.