According to police reports from the North Waziristan region, at least six army soldiers were killed and at least 10 others were wounded when a car bomb exploded near them while they were securing a checkpoint outside the town of Miranshah on Monday.

Police sources added that the explosion occurred as the men, who later died, belonging to security staff, ordered the car to stop in order to be checked.

The attack baffled many since it comes only a day after militant organizations in the above mentioned province announced a month-long truce with Pakistani government. On Sunday, a man who presented himself as being a spokesman of the Talibans in North Waziristan, stated that a one month truce would be imposed in the area, provided the Pakistani government would fulfill some of their demands.

They include the release of prisoners arrested during the operations the government is conducting in that region, near the border with Afghanistan, as part of the US-led war on terror, the withdrawal of the 80,000 troops the government deployed there and the reinstatement of all former government employees, who were sacked because of alleged links with militant groups.

According to Pakistani officials, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to arrive in Pakistan today to conduct a series of talks with president Musharraf, and this subject will surely be among the ones on the agenda. In the meantime, a six religious organizations' alliance, called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which once supported Musharraf, stated that it is embarking on a mission to oust the president and force the government to withdraw its troops.