Bomb kills Pakistan soldier, wounds 15

A roadside bomb targeting a military convoy yesterday killed a Pakistani soldier and wounded 15 others in the country's lawless tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.
The bomb was planted along the route of a convoy of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Spinwam area about 40 kilometres north of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region, they said.
North Waziristan has become the most notorious Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Islamabad has resisted US pressure to launch a full-scale offensive against insurgents in the area.
Troops responded by launching a house-to-house search for militants while military helicopters shelled suspected hideouts, another official in the northwestern city of Peshawar said, confirming the casualties.
North Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt, where Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds used to plot attacks across the border in Afghanistan.