ISLAMABAD, Aug 26 (AFP) - Two Pakistani soldiers were killed and five injured on Thursday when a landmine believed planted by Al-Qaeda militants ripped through their vehicle near the Afghan border, officials said.
"The landmine was exploded by remote control," said an official in Wana, the district capital of the tribal South Waziristan region.
The explosion occurred in Tiarza village, 10 kilometres (six miles) northeast of Wana, when a 20-vehicle military convoy was travelling from Wana to the northern Shakai valley near the border, he said.
One soldier died on the spot and six were injured, he said. A critically wounded soldier died later in hospital.
On Monday troops hunting Al-Qaeda suspects in the rugged terrain launched an operation against a secret hideout in the nearby North Waziristan region, killing four foreign militants.
Military officials said they also captured two Al Qaeda-linked militants, one of them a foreigner.
Troops hunting militants believed to be hiding in the area have come under rocket or mortar attack since they launched a five-day operation in June and destroyed several suspected hideouts.
The June operation in the Shakai valley, 25 kilometers north of Wana, left 65 militants and 18 soldiers dead.
Pakistani authorities believe some 500 to 600 Al-Qaeda suspects, including Chechen and Uzbek fighters, sneaked into the region after a US-led military offensive ousted Afghanistan's hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.
In a stepped-up campaign against the militants, security forces in Pakistan have arrested more than 60 Al-Qaeda suspects since last month.