MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Suspected militants attacked security forces in northwest Pakistan Wednesday, killing 16 soldiers and wounding up to 21 others in two separate strikes against military convoys, officials said.

Pakistan's opposition supporters hold an anti-government rally to condemn an operation against militants holding Islamabad's radical Red Mosque, Tuesday, July 17, 2007 in Karachi, Pakistan. [AP]

The escalating violence follows the scrapping by militant leaders of a 10-month-old peace accord with the government in the Afghan frontier region of North Waziristan.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said he would not declare a state of emergency in face of the mounting bloodshed and claimed that al-Qaida in Pakistan was on the run, his spokesman told The Associated Press.

"Al-Qaida has weakened because of the actions taken by Pakistani forces," Musharraf was quoted by spokesman Rashid Quereshi as telling a group of local newspaper editors.

The president said elections scheduled for later this year would be held on time.

Adding to Musharraf's woes was a suicide bombing Tuesday night in Islamabad before a rally to support the country's chief justice in his face-off with the president.

Supporters of former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry accused the government of being behind the attack, which killed 16 people. Musharaff tried to fire the independent-minded Chaudhry, sparking a popular backlash.

The violence comes after the army stormed a mosque held by Islamic extremists. The bloodshed has heightened tensions, with religious radicals calling for more revenge attacks on the government, and troops moving into militant strongholds on the border with Afghanistan - a move welcomed by Washington as helping in the fight against terrorists.

Musharraf condemned Tuesday's blast as a "terrorist act," and officials said they were trying to determine responsibility. A security official said the bomber's severed head had been found.

Supporters of Chaudhry accused the government of being behind the mayhem, while an opposition party thought to be considering joining a coalition government with Musharraf after year-end elections said the attack was aimed at its loyalists.

Chaudhry, whose fight against Musharraf's effort to oust him has fueled opposition to the president extending his rule, was a few miles away when the attacker struck about 8:30 p.m. outside the Islamabad district court building.

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