PESHAWAR, June 3: Security forces killed a suspected Uzbek militant and arrested two Uzbeks, four Afghans and an unidentified person in two incidents in the North Waziristan tribal region, officials said.

Three soldiers of the Shawal Scouts were wounded when suspected militants hurled a hand-grenade at them. Secretary Fata (Security) Brig Mahmood Shah said that there was a strong possibility that the arrested militants had links with Al Qaeda.

"We believe that the militants have a command system in the region and were motivated to attack some checkpoints in the area," he said. He claimed that these militants were working for Al Qaeda.

Speaking at a press briefing here on Thursday, Brig Shah said the first incident took place at the Dam Dail checkpoint, about 45km west of Miramshah. He said a vehicle coming from Razmak was signalled to stop at the checkpoint at around 11:30am for routine search.

As the vehicle slowed down, one of the militants, later identified as an Uzbek national, lobbed a grenade on troops, wounding three of them, including a hawaldar of the Touchi Scouts.

He said the paramilitary forces opened fire on the attackers and killed one of them. The attackers threw the driver out of the vehicle and escaped. The driver, Syed Rehman, had been taken into custody, Brig Shah added.

The wounded personnel are identified as Noor Alam Jan, Azmat Khan and Sifat Khan. Officials said the injured had been shifted to Peshawar as the condition of Noor Alam Jan was serious.

About 30 minutes,a flying coach with burqa-clad passengers was stopped at the same checkpoint. While searching the coach, security personnel got suspicious and carried out an extensive search during which the burqa-clad passengers were found to be armed men, two of them Uzbek nationals and the third an Afghan man.

Five grenades and five machine-guns were found in their possession. The arrested persons have been identified as Abdur Rehman, Abdullah and Farooq, the Afghan. While the arrests were being made, another vehicle carrying three persons arrived at the checkpoint.

Three Afghans in the vehicle were arrested by paramilitary forces. They are; Mohammad Salam, Rahim Gul, and Jamal. Mr Shah said the security forces also recovered three Kalashnikov and six hand-grenades from their possession. The arrested persons will be taken to Peshawar for interrogation.

Asked about the fate of tribal militant Nek Mohammad, Brig Shah said that it would be decided by his tribe. He said that Nek Mohammad had no influence over foreign militants and therefore could not deliver on the promise to get them registered with the authorities.

Our Correspondent from Wana adds: A 40-member committee of tribal elders met South Waziristan Administrator Asmatullah Gandapur and discussed with him the prevailing stand off over the issue of registration of foreign militants.