TANK/WANA, Aug 27: Militants in the restive South Waziristan tribal region have agreed to release on Tuesday 18 paramilitary personnel and a junior clerk of the political administration, a senior government official said.

However, as things appeared to be moving in a positive direction in South Waziristan, reports of fierce clashes between militants and security forces were received from the neighbouring North Waziristan with both sides using heavy weapons, mortars, rockets and missiles.

“The hostages were to be released at 10pm on Monday but the jirga of tribal elders opted for Tuesday morning for security reasons,” South Waziristan’s administrator Hussainzada Khan told Dawn from Wana.

“Consider them as released,” an upbeat Hussainzada said. “There has been no trade-off,” he insisted, rebutting reports that the government had agreed to release 10 alleged would-be suicide bombers, pay ransom and remove military checkposts.

Sixteen paramilitary soldiers of the Frontier Corps’ South Waziristan Scouts had been kidnapped by four armed militants on August 9. One of them, Laiq Hussain, was later beheaded.

A lieutenant colonel, two paramilitary soldiers and the clerk of the political administration were kidnapped on Thursday, raising the number of hostages to 19.

Mr Hussainzada said that the jirga of tribal elders, which include two Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal parliamentarians from the tribal region, held talks with militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and negotiated the release of the hostages.

He said that the government and the militants had agreed to abide by the February 2005 Sara Rogha peace agreement in letter and spirit.

“There will be no addition and no alteration,” he said.

But a source said that the government had agreed to remove some military checkposts located in civilian areas.

Tribal MNA Maulana Merajuddin told Dawn in Tank that the militants had agreed to free the hostages unconditionally.

But a man claiming to speak for militants in South Waziristan told Dawn that the government had agreed to release the 10 alleged suicide bombers arrested in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank a few months ago as part of the deal.

The man identifying himself as Abid also said that the military would remove checkposts and as a first step wound up one of them in Makeen in the Mehsud-dominated part of South Waziristan.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said he had no information on terms of the agreement reached by the political administration. But he insisted that the 10 alleged suicide bombers had nothing to do with the release of the paramilitary soldiers.

He, however, hastened to add that the authorities might release some tribesmen who had been taken into custody in accordance with the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) following the kidnapping of the paramilitary soldiers.

He also expressed ignorance about the removal of military checkposts, saying he had no information.

An official said that the government was seeking to set up a tripartite committee comprising tribal elders, a nominee of Baitullah Mehsud and a government representative to look into allegations and reports of suicide bombings linked to the militant commander.

“The release of the hostages is not the end, it’s the beginning of further negotiations for peace in the tribal region,” the official said.

According to our correspondent in Miramshah in North Waziristan, militants fired a barrage of rockets and missiles at a security checkpost late on Sunday night, wounding one soldier.

The security forces retaliated with heavy artillery and the two sides continued to trade fire till 3am on Monday. A militant was reportedly killed in the gunbattle.

Shells from the artillery hit some houses wounding two women, a child and a man. All were taken to the Agency Headquarters Hospital.

Militants also fired three missiles at the agency headquarters offices in Miramshah but no damage was reported.

They also attacked a combined military-paramilitary fort in Mirali sub-district of North Waziristan with five missiles but did not cause any damage.

Because of the situation in North Waziristan many families have left their homes and moved to other areas.