Pakistan's army says it has killed 21 more militants as it pushes into Taliban territory in its offensive in the South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The military says one soldier was also killed in the fighting.

There has been no independent confirmation of the casualty figures.

Pakistan's army has pledged to wipe out militants in South Waziristan, a stronghold for fighters of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud.

On Monday, a suicide bomber killed at least 35 people near Pakistan's army headquarters in Rawalpindi, while another suicide bombing in the eastern city of Lahore wounded seven people, including several policemen.

The attacks came as Pakistan's government announced rewards worth $5 million for information leading to the capture -- dead or alive -- of Mehsud and more than a dozen other Taliban leaders.

VOA's Dhaka stringer Amir Khasru talks to two former diplomats of Bangladesh about the current situation in Pakistan.