PESHAWAR, Jan 12: A Jirga in the South Waziristan tribal region pledged on Monday to hunt down those responsible for the last week attack on a military base in the area and hand them over to the authorities.

Elders of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe met administration officials at the camp office to covey their willingness to cooperate with the government in its search for those involved in the last week rocket attack that killed four soldiers of the Pakistan Army besides injuring seven others.

The Jirga regretted the attack on the brigade headquarters of Pakistan Army and offered to bring to justice those involved in the incident. They told the authorities that they would raise a tribal Lashkar (salweshti in local parlance) on Tuesday and launch a hunt for the three tribesmen accused of sheltering and facilitating Al Qaeda militants.

Troops of the Pakistan Army last week raided houses in Kalusha, a village about 12km from regional headquarters of Wana, to arrest Haji Sharif, Naik Mohammad and Maulavi Abbas but could not find them.

According to tribal traditions, messages were sent out and drums were beaten in order to let all the tribes know that a certain number of men was required from every tribe for the Lashkar.

A tribal elder said each tribe would bear the initial cost of mobilizing the tribal force, whereas the tribe whose men were wanted by the authorities was required to bear the entire cost that at times ran into thousands of rupees.

"The cost involved is sometimes so staggering that a tribe facing punitive action has to bow before the demands of the tribal Lashkar," said Malik Mirza Alam by phone from Wana. Two of the three accused belong to the Yargulkhel tribe, while the third, Maulavi Abbas, is a member of the Zalikhel-Kakakhel sub-section of Ahmadzai Wazir.

Mirza Alam said a group of tribal elders would visit Kalusha on Tuesday and ask the families of the three accused to hand over the wanted men to them or face action. "If they do not comply, the Lashkar will come and take necessary action. This means that the situation might turn violent," he added. An official in Wana said the authorities would closely monitor the situation and watch every move of the tribal elders and the tribal Lashkar for the next two to three days to ascertain their seriousness in tracking down the accused.

"We have called in more troops for a possible action if the tribal Lashkar fails to get those who were behind the rocket attack and had been sheltering and facilitating foreign terrorists," Rehmatullah Wazir, deputy administrator of Wana told Dawn by phone.

Local people and tribal elders said a large-scale army deployment has been seen in the area that clearly indicated the seriousness of the situation. "There has been a major deployment of soldiers. They have dug trenches and taken up positions on hills and high grounds. They have also moved forces to Kalusha. It is clear that the government means business," a tribal elder said, requesting anonymity.

Rehmatullah Wazir said the authorities had told the Jirga that not only those involved in the attack on the army camp office should be handed over, but any foreign terrorists present in the area should also be turned over.

"We have told them that we are going to watch them and watch them very closely. Our intelligence agencies are going to keep a tab on their movement. We know who the attackers were and are willing to share our information with them if they need it.

"We have given our word that we will not hand over any suspect, local or foreigner, to any other country and that all such people would be tried under the Pakistani laws," Mr Wazir said. However, a tribal elder said the Lashkar would need more than three days to track down and deliver the men. "The area is too big for a Lashkar of 1,000 to 6,000 men to cover in three days," he said.

South Waziristan with 6,619sq-km is the biggest of the seven federally administered tribal regions. Officials acknowledged that lack of roads and communication network in the area that borders Afghanistan meant that the tribal Lashkar would need more time.