Blast hits Pakistani convoy; 1 dead, 19 wounded

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A bomb blew up as a Pakistani security convoy was passing near a northwestern town on Friday killing one member of the force and wounding 19, police said.

It was the lastest in a wave of attacks on the security forces by Islamist militants, most in the northwest of the country near the border with Afghanistan.

The convoy was travelling from Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan region, and was passing through Tank in North West Frontier Province when the bomb blew up, police said.

The surge of militant violence comes as Pakistan's army chief and president, Pervez Musharraf, is struggling to win another term in an Oct. 6 presidential election.

The Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of his bid to win re-election while remaining army chief later on Friday.

Many Pakistanis disapprove of Musharraf's staunch support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism, which they blame for stirring up militant violence in the ethnic Pashtun areas along the Afghan border.