"Militants ambushed a military convoy near Chaghmalay, and air support was sought against them. Ten militants were killed and 12 injured while the security forces suffered two casualties," military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told Daily Times. Arshad said that two soldiers were killed and four others injured in a roadside explosion near Kaka Ziarat in Teti Madakhel, 70 kilometres north of North Waziristan's Mir Ali town, and the security forces had arrested six persons for carrying out the attack. The attacked convoy was heading to Dhandikach from the Speenwam area near the Pak-Afghan border, he added. The killing of the militants came hours after South Waziristan Political Agent Hussainzada Khan held a meeting with a 21-member Mehsud peace committee for the safe recovery of 15 Frontier Corps personnel taken hostage by the militants last week.
Maulana Mirajuddin, member of the National Assembly from the MMA, said the clash at Chaghmalay could hinder the safe release of the 15 FC personnel. "We discussed the release of the FC personnel and peace with the political agent. However, hours later the militants and security forces clashed and let's hope this incident does not affect the release of the kidnapped personnel," he told Daily Times by phone from Tank city.
Residents of Jandola, entry point of South Waziristan, said the Wana-Tank highway was blocked after Mehsud militants stopped traffic to and from Wana. This, they said, may lead to a conflict between the Mehsud and Wazir tribes. Truckloads of tomatoes and apples of the Wazir tribesmen in Wana waited for a long time for security clearance for upcountry transportation as the Mehsud militants blocked the Wana-Tank highway. The highway was later opened for traffic in the afternoon.
Earlier, Wazir elders said they feared a "full-scale war between the Mehsuds and Wazirs if the highway remained blocked and attacks on security forces in Wazir areas by Mehsud militants continued. Maj Gen Arshad said the government would not let the two tribes go to war.
Separately, NWFP Governor Ali Jan Orakzai held a meeting with elders and pro-Taliban clerics in North Waziristan on Thursday, officials and security sources said. It was the governor's first visit to Miranshah after his return from Kabul where he attended the joint peace jirga of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Orakzai said that the 2006 peace deal with the pro-Taliban militants had "no guarantee mechanism" for implementation.