A land mine exploded while it was being defused in a Pakistani region near Afghanistan, killing two soldiers and a civilian, officials said Monday. One other soldier and a government administrator were seriously wounded in the explosion Sunday in South Waziristan, a tribal area about 290 kilometers (180 miles) southwest of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, a senior security official said on condition of anonymity. Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the chief army spokesman, confirmed the explosion, saying it was triggered accidentally when the soldiers were trying to defuse the land mine.
