Pakistani soldier, three militants killed in clash

ISLAMABAD, Mar 10 (Reuters) Pakistani security forces killed three suspected Islamist militants in a clash in the North Waziristan region on the Afghan border today, the military said.

Pakistan struck a controversial peace pact in North Waziristan, a hotbed of al Qaeda and Taliban support, last September. The deal was aimed at ending fighting between militants and security forces and stopping raids into Afghanistan.

The clash took place near a border checkpoint when militants in three vehicles tried to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan, military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said in a statement.

''The vehicles were signalled to stop at the checkpost but they did not stop and started firing on security forces personnel,'' he said.

One soldier was killed. Several militants managed to escape and security forces were searching for them, Arshad said.

Hundreds of al Qaeda and Taliban militants fled into Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal lands on the Afghan border and found sanctuary there after US-led forces ousted Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2001.

The Pakistani government has been trying to clear the foreign militants out as part of its efforts in support of the US-led war on terrorism.

Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes but the fighting has fallen off sharply in North Waziristan since the September pact.

REUTERS AKJ HS1748