PESHAWAR, March 23: Suspected militants fired rockets on an army post in the Kurram tribal region on Tuesday, killing three soldiers and wounding four others , while thousands of troops laying siege to villages in the South Waziristan region to flush out militants passed a relatively quiet day.

In the southern city of Bannu, four people, including three policemen were killed when an army convoy opened fire on them, mistaken them for terrorists. The dead included a sub-inspector and two constables, besides a civilian.

Also on Tuesday night, suspected militants fired missiles on the headquarters of the Frontier Corps situated in the heart of Peshawar but failed to cause any damage to life or property.

A press note issued by the administration in the northern Kurram tribal region said "unidentified terrorists" fired rockets on a military post established in a veterinary centre in Tari Tang in the Dogar area.

The attack, which occurred at about 4.45am, killed three soldiers and wounded four others. The injured were airlifted to Kohat after provided first-aid at Sadda. Funerals of the three soldiers were held at the Army Ground in Parachinar, the regional headquarters, which was attended by civil and military officials.

Senior government officials in Peshawar said it was too early to draw any link between the rocket attack in the Kurram Agency and the ongoing operation in South Waziristan.

Incidentally, Dogar is situated close to the famous Tora Bora mountains inside Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan that had seen intense US bombing in the recent past on reports that Osama bin Laden and his supporters had been hiding in the area.

Authorities said they had recovered another rocket fitted with a timer in a ready position in the Kurram area. "The area has been cordoned off and the local Masozai tribe has been told to identify the culprits and hand them over under the territorial responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation."

In Bannu city, three policemen and a civilian were killed when 'mistakenly' fired upon by an army convoy. Officials said at around 6.40pm two police constables and a sub-inspector from the Frontier Reserve Police were trying to defuse an explosive device on Barani Pul, about 5km from the airport when it went off.

Officials and witnesses said an army convoy passing through the area thought it had been attacked and shot at the policemen who were in plain cloths, killing three of them and wounding an employee from the Civil Aviation Authority.

The provincial capital reverberated with explosions on Tuesday night when at around 10.15pm missiles landed in four different localities of the city, wounding two people.

Provincial police chief Riffat Pasha told Dawn that missiles fired from unknown directions hit different parts of the city but caused no damage. "We are still investigating," he said.

There was some confusion as to the number of missiles fired and areas hit. The IG said he could not say anything with certainty unless he had a full report.

An official of the Bomb Disposal Squad said 107mm missiles having a range of 8km had been fired from unknown directions, one landing inside the Bala Hisar Fort, headquarters of the Frontier Corps, second missile landed outside the offices of Excise and Taxation situated in the district court, the third landed in the parking area of the Civil Secretariat, while the fourth in the ground of Lady Griffith School in Dabgari Garden.

A senior official said the missiles appeared to have been fired from the Peshawar's Ring Road that connected it with the Bara-Gate-Mall Road in the cantonment area.

A doctor at Lady Reading Hospital said they had received two people who had received shrapnel from a missile. The situation in South Waziristan, however, remained relatively quiet on Tuesday with intermittent light arm fire.

The officials said a 12-member jirga of the Zalikhel tribe had launched efforts for the recovery of 12 missing paramilitary soldiers and two junior-level officers of the local administration.

"We would hold fire until Wednesday evening to give time to Zalikhels to prove that they are sincere and serious in cooperating with the government by tracing our missing people," an official said.

Zalikhel, a sub-tribe of Ahmadzai Wazirs, has borne the brunt of the military operation for failing to hand over five fellow clansmen and foreign militants.

A 52-member all-tribal agencies jirga, which is staying in Wana, the regional headquarters, for the last three days, continued its deliberations with Zalikhels on Tuesday to persuade them to be pro-active in order to avoid another showdown with the military.

An official said Zalikhels were expected to take oath on the Holy Quran on Wednesday to pledge their support to the government in its hunt for foreign militants and their local supporters.

A lashkar of Mehsud tribe raided a house in Barwand in Sarwaikai to capture a tribal suspected of attacking an army supply convoy in Sarwaikai on Monday which left 12 soldiers dead and 22 wounded.

South Waziristan administrator Azam Khan confirmed that the tribal lashkar raided the house of Waliur Rehman to hand him over to the authorities for his alleged role in the Monday attack.

"He was not there so the lashkar picked up his two brothers and told his relatives to surrender the main accused as soon as possible," Azam Khan said. "Mehsuds are acting in a responsible manner," he said.

"And we are going to reciprocate with a matching response," he added, hinting that the government might award the tribe for cooperating in the hunt for those involved in the deadly ambush.

He said main suspects had a group of 60 to 70 militants and had been involved in the fighting in Afghanistan. An official in Peshawar said investigators had found a telephone index from the scene of the Monday ambush, apparently belonging to one of the militants that could lead them to others involved in the attack.

In a related development, the government has ordered the deployment of paramilitary forces and Khasadars on the main road from Tank to Jandola and onwards to Wana to fend off future attacks on army convoys in the tribal region.