A rescue worker surveys a police vehicle which was damaged by a bomb explosion on the outskirts of Peshawar February 8, 2011. One policeman was killed and three wounded when the remote-controlled bomb exploded at a security checkpost near the northwestern city of Peshawar, police said. – Photo by Reuters

PESHAWAR: Bomb attacks on Tuesday killed at least two Pakistani soldiers and a policeman in the country's northwest, which is in the grip of a Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked insurgency, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban have vowed to step up attacks on Pakistani security forces in the region to avenge a fresh offensive against militant sanctuaries in the tribal district of Mohmand.

“A roadside improvised explosive device exploded as an army vehicle passed by in Janikhel town, killing two soldiers and wounding four others,” a senior military official told AFP.

An intelligence official in the area confirmed the incident and casualties, about 150 kilometres (95 miles) south of Peshawar, the capital of the northwest.

Just north of Peshawar, another roadside blast struck a police van, killing one policeman in the Mithra area.

Police official Muhammad Ejaz said three other policemen were also injured.

Pakistan's northwest and the semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border has been wracked by violence since hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters sought refuge there after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The government has claimed a number of military successes against the militants in recent years, but attacks continue.

Washington says wiping out the militant threat in Pakistan's tribal belt is vital to winning the war in Afghanistan and defeating Al-Qaeda. – AFP