MIRANSHAH: A bomb ripped through a military vehicle on Saturday killing two Pakistani soldiers in a village in the restive northwestern tribal area bordering Afghanistan, a security official said.

The remote-controlled bomb planted on a roadside hit a patrol party leading a convoy of security forces at Boya village, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town of troubled North Waziristan tribal district.

“Two soldiers were martyred in the bomb blast,” a security official told AFP.

“The authorities have clamped a curfew on the main Miranshah-Datta Khel road and are carrying out a search operation,” said the official, who requested anonymity.

A local intelligence official confirmed the attack and death toll and said that he suspected the involvement of Taliban militants in the attack.

Pakistan has for years battled homegrown insurgents in the tribal belt that borders Afghanistan.

More than 3,000 soldiers have died but Pakistan has resisted US pressure to do more to eliminate havens used by Afghan insurgents.