Violence continues to escalate in Pakistan as five soldiers were killed and nine were wounded in another suicide bomb attack near the border with Afghanistan on Thursday, the country’s military authorities said.

The suicide car bomb struck the security forces located in South Waziristan's main town of Wana, the Associated Press wrote on its Web site.

The remote area near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan is believed to be the shelter of numerous Al-Qaida- and Taliban-loyal militants. Numerous and fierce battles have been fought these years in the region between the Pakistani military and the militants.

There were also several attacks launched on militants by the U.S.-led coalition forces.

The last attack was carried out on Sunday, when missiles hit a building three miles outside of Wana where Taliban-linked militants were sheltering. At least 20 people died in the explosion. The operation was most likely carried out by the coalition forces led by the United States.

The death toll of the attacks this year has passed the 600 milestone. The militants operating in Pakistan’s tribal border area are believed to be behind most of these attacks, the Pakistani authorities said.

Another suicide bomb attack took place on Thursday, the day when U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan. During a press conference held after he met for discussions with Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai, Cheney said the Pakistani government and the Afghan government are a target for al-Qaida and other extremists.

"They have as big a stake as anyone else," he said.