Homicide Bomb Kills at Least 5 in Pakistan Near Afghanistan Border

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A homicide car bomb killed five Pakistani soldiers and wounded nine others near the Afghan border on Thursday, the military said.

The bomber attacked security forces in South Waziristan's main town of Wana, a military statement said.

Al Qaeda- and Taliban-linked militants are believed to operate in the remote tribal area in the rugged, lawless tribal regions along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Pakistani troops have fought intense battles there in recent years.

U.S.-led coalition forces based across the Afghan border also have launched attacks on militants in the area. On Sunday, missiles that witnesses say came from an unmanned drone struck a suspected militant safehouse and killed about 20 people three miles outside of Wana.

Only U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan are known to operate unmanned drones in the region.

A string of militant attacks — many of them homicide bombings — have killed more than 600 people in Pakistan since beginning of the year. Authorities blame the attacks on militants operating in the tribal regions along Afghanistan.

Thursday's bomber struck as Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting Afghanistan, where he urged Pakistan to battle extremists in its border regions.

Standing beside Afghan President Hamid Karzai at a news conference, Cheney said the Pakistani government, like that of Karzai, is a target for Al Qaeda and other extremists. "They have as big a stake as anyone else," he said.

Two vehicles were also damaged in Thursday's homicide attack, the military statement said. It gave no other details.