ISLAMABAD, July 6 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber threw himself at an army jeep killing six Pakistani soldiers in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, an army official said.

The attack occurred as they drove through Dir town in North West Frontier Province, in an area where sympathy for Islamist militants is strong.

A major and a lieutenant were killed in the attack along with four non-commissioned officers, the official said. Three soldiers were also wounded.

It was the third bomb attack in the region in the past three days with victims now totalling 18.

Suicide attacks targeting the military have become more common because of Pakistan's help for Western forces fighting a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.

It was unclear whether any of the attacks this week were related to the continuing confrontation between security forces and militant Islamic students at a radical mosque in Islamabad.

At least 19 people have been killed in clashes outside the Red Mosque, first on Tuesday and then during the security forces' subsequent siege.

Clerics heading the mosque had threatened to retaliate with suicide bombings in the past if force were used against their Taliban-style movement. Many of their followers come from frontier towns like Dir.

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