MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) -- Two Pakistani soldiers and three militants were killed in a clash overnight in a troubled tribal district near the Afghan border, officials said Tuesday.

Around a dozen soldiers were also wounded when pro-Taliban militants attacked a military convoy near Dattakhel village, some 15 kilometers (10 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan district.

"Miscreants attacked a convoy of security forces late Monday that resulted in some casualties," chief military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP.

Local officials said the clash left two soldiers and three militants dead and on Tuesday, helicopter gunships pounded Pyekhel village, the launching point for the militants' attack.

Also late Monday, security forces in Miranshah opened fire on a group of militants after they fired several rockets at a paramilitary checkpost.

The retaliatory fire resulted in the death of a tribesman, who was one of a group of locals watching a football match in the suburbs of the town, a local official said.

Hundreds of militants have been killed in Miranshah since early March in a series of army operations to flush out Al-Qaeda linked foreign and local rebels in the rugged region. The clashes also left some two dozen soldiers dead.