Officials in Pakistan say a bomb blast killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded 11 others Saturday in the northwest.

Theincident took place in the Khyber region, which is the main route formoving supplies to international forces fighting in Afghanistan.

The violence comes a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended her confrontational visit to the country.

Duringher three-day trip, Clinton questioned why Pakistan has not capturedal-Qaida leaders, saying "somebody, somewhere in Pakistan" must knowwhere they are.

The secretary of state also defended U.S. policyto Pakistanis who voiced frustration with increasing violence in theregion, including U.S. (drone) missile attacks on suspected militanthide-outs in the northwest.

Clinton left for the Middle East on Friday. 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.