Pakistan's paramilitary soldiers unload cement bags to reinforce their security post after a suicide attack in Thal, 20 Aug 2007

A Pakistani suicide bomber drove his explosives-laden car into a military checkpoint near the Afghan border Monday, killing three soldiers and wounding more than a dozen people.

The attack took place outside the town of Thal in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

The country has experienced a surge of violence since a 10-month peace deal with pro-Taleban militants, designed to drive out extremists from North Waziristan, broke down last month.

Also Monday, in an unrelated development, Pakistani authorities released a terror suspect who had spent three years in custody without being charged with a crime or brought before a court.

Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan was arrested in Lahore in July 2004 after investigation of his computer led to information on active al-Qaida networks. He was accused of being the terror network's computer expert.

Khan's lawyer, Babar Awan, said his client returned to his home in the southern port city of Karachi.

Officials alleged that Khan acted as a link between top al-Qaida leaders and the organization's operational cells.

Pakistani intelligence officials say information from his computer led them to a Tanzanian wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa, as well as terror plots in both the United States and Britain.

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