Eight soldiers and seven militants have died in violence in Pakistani tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

Militants ambushed a convoy of Pakistani troops on Thursday, killing seven and wounding 22 in the deadliest attack for months in Pakistan's northern Waziristan region, officials said.

Helicopter gunships and soldiers hunted the rebels after the attack, killing up to six.

Separately, a suspected foreign insurgent and a paramilitary soldier died in a gunbattle at a checkpoint in the tribal region of Bajaur near Afghanistan's southeastern border, they said.

The seven soldiers killed in the ambush were securing the route when they came under fire in the village of Sarobi, which is 20km north of Miranshah - the main town in North Waziristan - said Major General Shaukat Sultan, the chief military spokesman.

Sultan said troops were responding to the attack and had secured the area. He did not confirm the militant death toll.

An AFP correspondent on the ground said firing had stopped but soldiers were barring all vehicles from the area.

The second attack erupted when a suspected foreign militant refused to get out of a car at a checkpoint near Khar, the main town in Bajaur.

Separately, five paramilitary soldiers were wounded late on Wednesday when a remote-controlled roadside bomb struck their vehicle in the village of Spinwah, 40km northeast of Miranshah, a security official said.

Rockets were fired at security forces in the nearby border town of Mirali early on Thursday but caused no casualties.

Pakistan says it has deployed 80,000 troops in Waziristan to hunt militants who sneaked across the border with Afghanistan after its Taliban government was toppled by US-led forces in late 2001.

North and South Waziristan have seen major clashes over the past two and a half years.

PHOTO CAPTION

Troops of Pakistani paramilitary force patrol in main market of Miran Shah in Pakistan's tribal region of north Waziristan. (AP)