Five people including a woman and child died when a roadside bomb hit a minibus in a Pakistani tribal area, while troops killed two tribesmen carrying illegal weapons, officials said yesterday. The incidents happened in the troubled North Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan, where violence continues weeks after major battles between Pakistani soldiers and suspected pro-Taliban militants.

The remote-controlled explosive device ripped through the bus in Data Khel village near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, early on Monday, a local official said.

"Four people including a child and a woman were killed on the spot and another died later in Miranshah hospital," the official said on condition of anonymity. The vehicle was badly damaged, he added.

Separately a truck coming from Afghanistan was hit by another roadside bomb blast in the Data Khel area but there were no casualties, the official said.