PESHAWAR: Helicopter gunships and bulldozers destroyed dozens of shops in a restive tribal area of South Waziristan on Tuesday after a bomb attack on a military convoy wounded five soldiers, officials said.

The incident took place in Wana, the main town of troubled South Waziristan district, where the military is battling Taliban militants.

“At least five soldiers were wounded when a bomb planted on a roadside exploded as a military convoy passed,” a local security official told AFP.

Security forces immediately launched a search operation and called in air support, he added.

Local administration, intelligence officials and residents said helicopters bombed the market at Wana by-pass road and later bulldozers razed dozens of shops belonging to suspected militants.

A curfew has been imposed in Wana and military helicopters were hovering above, they said.

Earlier on Monday, a major-ranked officer of the Pakistan Army and five militants were killed during an attack on a checkpost in Spin Wam area of North Waziristan tribal region's Mirali tehsil.

Militants attacked Dandi Kuch checkpost situated in Kaka Ziarat area of Spin Wam near the Pak-Afghan border killing an officer of the Pakistan Army identified as Major Ismail. The area lies adjacent to Afghanistan's Khost province.

Security personnel resorted to retaliatory firing killing five militants.

Pakistan has been battling an insurgency since 2004, following the US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militants across the border.

Officials say more than 3,500 militants have been killed since the launch of the latest offensive in neighbouring North Waziristan last year.