MIRAMSHAH: Militants attacked an army checkpost in Pakistan's troubled northwest near the Afghan border, killing one soldier and wounding three others, officials said on Monday.

The incident took place late Sunday night in Miramshah, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal region where Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds.

“A group of militants attacked the checkpost, killing one soldier and wounding three others,” a local security official said, adding that the militants fled immediately afterwards.

A local administration official also confirmed the attack.

Haq Nawaz, a tribal police official, said that army troops retaliated by firing mortars which landed in the surrounding areas, killing three civilians and wounding seven others.

But this information could not be confirmed by security officials in the area.

In a separate incident on Sunday, a roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded three others in Miramshah.

North Waziristan, a site of frequent US drone strikes, is one of seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in Pakistan.

Washington considers these areas a major hub of Taliban and al Qaeda militants plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.