Suicide attack on Pakistan troops

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At least three soldiers and a civilian have been killed in a suicide bombing in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

The attack took place at a check post near the town of Miranshah close to the Afghan border, security officials said.

Correspondents say it was the fourth attack in the area in as many days, following three suicide blasts over the weekend that left more than 70 dead.

The attacks are in apparent revenge for last week's government assault on Islamabad's Red Mosque.

'Dangerous consequences'

Officials say that the latest attack took place at a roadside security post in North Waziristan, an area of high tension after a controversial peace agreement between the Pakistani government and local militants had broken down following the Red Mosque siege.

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They say that the bomber parked his car, and then walked to the post - on the road linking Bannu to Miranshah - and detonated his explosives.

Officials say that as well as the soldiers, a passer-by and the bomber died.

The top official in the north-western region, Akram Khan Durrani, told the Associated Press news agency that the breakdown of the peace agreement could have "dangerous consequences".

Meanwhile militants have been accused of slitting the throat of an Afghan national near the town of Bajaur, after accusing him of spying for US-led forces in Afghanistan.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for any of the attacks.

'Mistakes made'

Militants say they have torn up the 10-month-old peace agreement with the government - which was heavily criticised by Washington and Kabul - because the government had set up new check posts and had failed to pay compensation to the families of tribesmen killed in army operations.

Pakistani authorities have been trying to shore up the peace accord since it broke down on Saturday.

Correspondents say that without it, the army risks fresh violence in a region thought to contain many militants.

A government-backed mediator who met tribal elders told AP on Tuesday that he was hopeful that the pact could still be salvaged by the government and a tribal jirga, or council.

"We want the jirga to mediate and it should see from which sides mistakes have been made," Maulana Nek Zaman, a cleric, said.

The government has sent thousands of new troops to the north-west fearing there could be a new "holy war" in revenge for the siege.

Many of the militants in the Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) complex were thought to have come from the north-west.

President Pervez Musharraf last week vowed to root out extremists "from every corner of the country".