PESHAWAR: A Pakistani soldier was killed on Sunday as troops foiled an attempt by a suicide bomber to attack a military checkpost near the Afghan border, officials said.

The bomber's explosives detonated when he was shot outside the Chag Malai post seven kilometres east of Wana, the main town in the lawless South Waziristan region, local official Saifur Rehman told AFP.

“The bomber came on foot but failed to detonate his explosives-laden vest,” Rehman said.

“A guard shot him and he exploded. One soldier was martyred due to splinters. There were no other injuries.”

A military official who declined to be named confirmed the incident, saying that “an attempt by a suicide bomber has been successfully averted” in Chag Malai.

The Pakistani army has repatriated more then 4,000 out of some 41,000 displaced Mehsud families in South Waziristan since a yearlong military operation to clear the region of militants.

Sunday's attack took place in an area where Mehsud tribes have been repatriated, and follows warnings from Pakistani Taliban militants telling families not to return.