MIRAMSHAH, Oct 17: A jirga on Wednesday assured the tribal administration about the sincerity of its efforts to restore peace in North Waziristan.

The 50-member jirga, comprising tribal elders and clerics from villages of Mossaki, Essokhel, Ormaz, Edak, Hakimkhel and Ippi of the Mirali sub-district, met regional administrator Aurangzeb Khan after the expiry of a deadline to flush out foreign militants from the area.

The jirga assured Mr Khan that all foreign militants had been expelled and now tribesmen would face the punishment of demolition of their houses and a Rs500,000 fine if they sheltered them.

No untoward incident was reported on Wednesday in Mirali, considered to be a hub of foreign militants, mostly central Asians, Arabs and Chechens.

A senior government official in Peshawar said that some tribes had agreed to form tribal lashkars to flush out foreign militants from their areas. “Things are looking promising,” the official said.

He said that the situation would be clear in a couple of days.

Another 15-member jirga from the Orakzai tribal region and Hangu district also met the administrator of North Waziristan and discussed peace efforts. They later left the area to hold talks with militants.

Another jirga of the Mulakh tribe, led by the chief of Dawar tribe from Mirali and Khanzeb, also met Mr Khan and assured him that they would not allow anyone to use their territory to launch attacks against the government.