At least six Pakistani soldiers and six Islamist militants were killed in north-western Pakistan near the Afghan border, the military said on Saturday. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said that a lieutenant colonel who was leading the troops was also killed in the overnight fighting in the North Waziristan district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The region has served in the past as a stronghold for Islamist militants linked with al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism and such sacri…