Suicide bomber kills soldier in NW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (Reuters) A suicide bomber killed a Pakistani paramilitary soldier and wounded two today in an attack on a security post near the Afghan border, a military spokesman said.

The attack was the latest incident in a wave of violence in northwest Pakistan since last month when a 10-month peace deal with militants broke down and government forces stormed a radical mosque in the capital, Islamabad.

Military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said the bomber rammed a car into a checkpost about 30 km north of Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan region which is a hotbed of support for Taliban and al Qaeda militants.

Nine soldiers and 17 militants have been killed in bomb attacks and clashes in the Waziristan region since Thursday.

More than 200 people, most of them soldiers and policemen, have been killed in the northwest since last month.

The violence is one more headache for President Pervez Musharraf as he prepares to try to secure another five-year term in a presidential election expected next month or in October.

Army chief Musharraf, a staunch US ally, has seen his popularity slump since he tried to dismiss the country's top judge in March.

REUTERS SKB VC1925