One killed, seven injured in Pak suicide attack

Islamabad: At least one soldier was killed and seven others were injured on Sunday when a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security check post in Pakistan's restive tribal belt, where 11 militants were also gunned down by troops.

The bomber targeted the Chak Malai check post manned by Pakistani troops in South Waziristan tribal area, leaving one soldier dead and seven others injured, TV news channels reported.

The attack came at a time when the government has started repatriating thousands of persons displaced by a major military offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan in October 2009.

The army had declared victory over Taliban militants in the region last year but today's attack shows that the terrorists are still holed up in remote areas of South Waziristan, the birthplace of the Pakistani Taliban movement.

Sources said displaced persons from the Mehsud tribe have refused to return to their homes due to insecurity.

In a separate incident, security forces killed 11 militants in the Kurram tribal region, reports said.

The troops also destroyed two militant hideouts.