Islamabad, Oct 9 : At least 45 Pakistani soldiers and 150 pro-Taliban militants have died in a fighting between the military and the militants in North Waziristan on Sunday night and Monday.

Fighting broke out in North Waziristan on Sunday after militants bombed army convoys. The military responded with air strikes and ground operations, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.

"Forty-five security personnel have been martyred and 130 militants killed in the two days of fighting in North Waziristan," Arshad said.

"Ten or 12 soldiers are still missing," a foreign news agency quoted Arshad, as saying.

The fighting left scores of people dead with the army admitting that it had received the bodies of 30 soldiers and villagers claiming the death of 58 civilians.

The fate of another 50 soldiers is still unclear. Major General Arshad, who is the Director-General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), listed them as missing.

Villagers in the Mir Ali area, militants and members of a Jirga of clerics that managed to broker a ceasefire late Monday, said that the missing soldiers had been killed in an ambush.

The fighting saw the use of Pakistan Air Force fighter aircraft for the first time to bomb the militant hideouts.

Soldiers disappeared after the militants attacked security posts and an army patrol outside the town of Mir Ali over the weekend.

Major General Arshad said that the army is trying to establish contact with the missing soldiers.

Major General Arshad said he was not aware of any civilian casualties in the fighting. (ANI)