Intelligence officials say suspected militants have fired rockets at a paramilitary base in Northwest Pakistan during an Independence Day ceremony, killing three soldiers and wounding 23 others.

The officials say the soldiers had just finished raising the Pakistani flag and were gathering for speeches on Sunday when the rockets hit the base in Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area.

The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

North Waziristan is the main sanctuary for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region along the Afghan border.