01 November 2004	Monday	17 Ramazan 1425

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PESHAWAR, Oct 31: Elders of the Mehsud tribe have said that the military should adopt a cautious approach for moving troops to forward positions in the troubled South Waziristan Agency against the backdrop of the killing of tribal volunteers during a search operation on Oct 26.

The killing of the volunteers, the elders told Dawn, adversely affected the military's ongoing operation in the South Waziristan Agency in general and in the Mehsud tribesmen's area in particular.

"It affected the credibility of Pakistan army in the eyes of the Mehsud tribesmen," said Maulana Saleh Shah, an elder of the Mehsud tribe belonging to the Tiarza area of the troubled region.

Fifteen people were killed and several injured when a group of tribal volunteers helping the administration in the search operation in the Sheikh Ziarat village near Spinkay Raghzay came under artillery fire.

"The incident has shattered the tribesmen's confidence in the military, hence a much more cautious approach needs to be adopted while moving troops to Kotkai and other forward positions to avoid a larger conflict between the army and tribesmen," said Maulana Saleh, who is a member of the 21-member peace committee the government has constituted to negotiate the registration and surrender of foreign militants.

Similar views were expressed by another member of the peace committee, Masood Khan, from the Makin area of the South Waziristan agency.

Talking to Dawn from Dera Ismail Khan by phone, he said that though the incident was not likely to create serious problems for the government, it had undermined the military's campaign in the region.

"Now they would need to do something to restore tribesmen's confidence before moving troops further deep in the Sarwekai sub-division of the agency," said Mr Khan.

He said that the military should take members of the Balolzai tribe into confidence before starting its forward movement towards the Kotkai area.