Soldier dies in thwarted Pakistan suicide attack

A Pakistani soldier was killed on Sunday as troops foiled an attempt by a suicide bomber to attack a military checkpost near the Afghan border, officials said. The bomber's explosives detonated when he was shot outside the Chag Malai post seven kilometres (four miles) east of Wana, the main town in the lawless South Waziristan region, local official Saifur Rehman told AFP. "The bomber came on foot but failed to detonate his explosives-laden vest," Rehman said. "A guard shot him and he exploded. One soldier was martyred due to splinters. There were no other injuries." A military official who declined to be named confirmed the incident, saying that "an attempt by a suicide bomber has been successfully averted" in Chag Malai. The rugged tribal terrain of North and South Waziristan is considered to be a key base for Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters who operate across the border in Afghanistan. Pakistan troops battle with militants in the tribal areas but the Islamabad government has resisted pressure from the US to launch major operations in North Waziristan. The region is regularly targeted by missile strikes from unmanned US drone aircraft as the US tries to end the insurgency in Afghanistan by taking out militant leaders and training camps in Pakistan. Relations between Pakistan and the United States have deteriorated sharply since the killing of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, and Islamabad has demanded an end to the drone strikes.