PESHAWAR, March 28: The government announced on Sunday that it was winding up its operation in Kaloosha in the South Waziristan region after militants freed 11 of the 14 hostages.

Brigadier Mahmood Shah, Fata's security chief, said major objectives of the operation Kaloosha-II had been achieved and security forces had smashed dens of foreign militants and their tribal protectors in Azam Warsak.

He told journalists at a press briefing here that the militants had released 11 of the 12 paramilitary soldiers they had been holding since March 16. He said that the 12th soldier appeared to have escaped and his whereabouts were not known.

Brig Shah said that the militants had assured a jirga of tribal elders that they would free the remaining two hostages, both political tehsildars, by Monday.

"The NWFP governor has decided to get the army out of the targeted area and lift the cordon," he said. He, however, insisted that the government stuck to its two other conditions, i.e., the surrender of foreign militants and their tribal protectors.

He said that the targeted areas of Azam Warsak, Kaloosha and Shin Warsak had been cleared, but the terrorists could be hiding on the 'right or left' sides of the troubled area.

After the army pullout, Brig Shah said, the local administration would look after the area. But locals reached on phone in Wana said that despite the announcement, they had yet to see any withdrawal of troops from the cordoned area and helicopters continued to hover above the region throughout the day.

Thousands of army troops and paramilitary soldiers backed by Cobra helicopter gunships and heavy artillery had launched operation Kaloosha-II on March 16 to flush out foreign militants and their tribal supporters.

The Fata security chief said that after the release of 11 hostages, the army troops lifted their cordon from a 15-sq-km area near the Afghan border and the forces' withdrawal would be completed by Sunday night.

Brig Shah, however, maintained that about 10,000 military and 3,500 paramilitary troops would remain stationed in the region. He said: "Dialogue and military operation will go on simultaneously. The troops will stay in the region and will take action whenever and wherever required."

He said the Zalikhel tribe would turn in all suspects, including the five most wanted persons and foreigners, to the government. South Waziristan Administrator Azam Khan told Dawn he would be meeting the all-tribes jirga on Monday to press them to ensure the fulfilment of the remaining two conditions.

"Now that the Zalikhels have delivered on hostages, I would like to see them delivering on the foreign and local militants as well. "I would like to know when and how are they going to proceed on the two conditions," he said on phone from Wana.

Responding to a question about the 'high-value target', Brig Shah said that he was believed to be Tahir Yaldashev, head of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU).

"Tahir may be the high-value target and according to intelligence reports, he was the one who had been wounded in clashes," he said. Officials said that during the Kaloosha-II operation, 83 houses of militants had been demolished, 60 terrorists, most of them foreigners, had been killed and 163 miscreants had been arrested.

Brig Shah said that communication equipment and other material recovered from militants' hideouts were being examined by intelligence agencies. He also said that state agencies did not need FBI's help in examining the equipment recovered from the dens.

Officials here said that an unprecedented jirga of the predominant Mehsud tribe was held at Spinkai Raghzai on Sunday and was attended by about 7,000 tribesmen. They strongly condemned the brutal murder of eight soldiers on their territory.

According to the Fata security chief, the Mehsud tribe had announced that they would avenge the cold-blooded murder of the eight soldiers kidnapped by suspected militants who had ambushed an army convoy near Serwakai on March 22. "This is something unprecedented when you have all the Mehsuds actually agreeing on something," Mr Azam Khan said.