A suicide bomber attacked a Pakistani military convoy near the Afghan border yesterday, killing two soldiers and four civilians, the military said.
A security official put the toll from the attack, which took place as the troops passed through the volatile North Waziristan tribal district, at eight soldiers and said it could rise further.
"As many as six persons including four civilians embraced shahadat (martyrdom) due to a blast in Miranshah this morning," a military statement said.
"Reportedly, a suspected suicide bomber hit a military convoy which was moving from Mir Ali to Miranshah this morning. Five security forces persons were also injured."
Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants regularly attack military and government targets in the area close to the Afghan border.
Hours later, eight remote-controlled bombs planted on a roadside exploded when a military convoy was passing in Wana, the main town of neighbouring South Waziristan tribal district, officials said.
Details about casualties were not known immediately. However, witnesses said that shoppers in main Wana market ran in panic and shops were closed down following the blasts.
Separately, Pakistani soldiers killed 16 al-Qaeda-linked militants in fierce gunbattles in Bajaur, another lawless tribal district bordering Afghanistan, officials said.
More than 800 people, mostly militants, have been killed and 260,000 displaced since Pakistani troops launched a major offensive against Islamic militants in the area last month.
US and Afghan officials say Pakistan's tribal areas are a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked across the border after the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan late 2001.
al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the mountainous region.