Pakistan bombing kills 5 soldiers

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 21 (UPI) -- A suicide bomb attack killed five Pakistani soldiers in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan, where U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting.

The attacker crashed an explosives-laden vehicle into a Pakistani military vehicle outside a brigade headquarters Thursday in South Waziristan's main town of Wana, injuring 11 more, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The report said a militant group led by a commander named Maulvi Nazir claimed responsibility for the attack.

In Afghanistan, Cheney and President Hamid Karzai stressed Pakistan's role in the fight against Islamic extremism.

Commenting on the level of cooperation expected from Pakistan's new coalition government, Cheney said, "a government has an obligation to control its sovereign territory, to make certain that that territory doesn't become a safe haven for ... terrorist groups intending to do harm to others," the Times reported.

Cheney also said the Pakistanis "have as big a stake as anyone else in dealing with the threat that sometimes emerges from those areas along the border."