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PESHAWAR: With the Tribal Jirga retuning unsuccessful for the second day on Tuesday as it did not find any of the foreign fighters, their local supporters or the troops and officials believed to be made hostage by the militants, the metropolis of NWFP, the city of Peshawar was hit by three rockets beyond mid-night, in wee span of today, Wednesday, yet with no significant loss.

A state of vigilance surfaced as authorities instantly beefed-up all types of security measures to avert perceptible risks.

Talks, Response

The Jirga of the Zalikehl tribe which made a similar attempt to start talks with as claimed by the government up to 500 Al-Qaeda fighters holed up in Kaloosha and Shin Warsak on Monday received no reply.

"When they went in they did not meet the top people there but they met their representatives," reports said on Tuesday.

They have given the demands to them but those representatives were not in a position to respond. They said they would discuss with their leaders and then respond. Their response is awaited.

Jirga's Demand

Meanwhile, the administration agreed to the Jirga's demand to extend temporary ceasefire so that a third effort could be made to secure the release of troops and two Tehsildars made hostage by the suspected militants.

Meanwhile, Assistant Political Agent (APA) Rehmatullah Wazir says that a second delegation will go to different areas to negotiate an end to the eight-day stand-off between the militants and thousands of troops.

He said many groups each comprising 14 members will go to Kaloosh, Shin Warsak, Ghwa Khwa, Baza Gunday and Azam Warsak and will try to secure the release of 16 Pakistani troops and 2 Tehsildars believed to be taken hostage by the militants.

The APA hoped the second attempt to secure a peaceful surrender would bear fruit.

The Masuzai tribal Jirga would meet again at Sadda today, Wednesday to take a final decision on the issue and also assure the administration of its all out support against the attackers.

Heavy Artillery Boomed

Heavy artillery boomed in remote tribal region of South Waziristan on Tuesday in an apparent resumption of fighting between the army and suspected al-Qaeda militants, residents said.

A delegation of tribal elders had earlier tried to persuade foreign militants and their local supporters to surrender during a lull in the fighting. But the army had warned it would not wait indefinitely for a negotiated solution.

Three Rockets hit Peshawar

Three rockets apparently fired from a tribal agency hit diverse areas of Peshawar city late on Tuesday night, inflicting injuries on three people.

NWFP's Police chief, Mohammad Raffat Pasha said that the rockets failed to cause any loss to life or property.

Similar devices, he said, were fired at Kohat and Bannu in the recent past without causing any major damage and were freely used during earlier sectarian riots in Hangu.

Locales

One of the rockets landed near the old Kutchery premises behind the Excise & Taxation office, off the Khyber Road. "The rocket impacted on the ground wasfar away from the Khyber Road," he said.

Another rocket fell near a drain and canal beside the parking lot of the Civil Secretariat and Police Lines. A branch of Bank of Khyber is also sited nearby. Tanvirul Haq Sipra, head of the Capital Police, said a man sitting there received minor injuries and was sent home after first-aid.

Yet another rocket hit the road beside the Lady Griffith School in the Dabgari area. IGP Pasha said someone rang him up saying the falling bricks from the school wall caused minor injuries to two persons. However, DIG Police Sipra said he had been to Dabgari to the scene of incident and was unable to find anyone with injuries on the spot.

Scare of Bang

The rockets caused scare among the people who came to know about the attack or heard the heavy noise of the impact made by the rocketing. Inhabitants of the localities falling on the route of the rockets after being fired, possibly from Khyber Agency also heard that noise.

Rockets

Such Russian-made rockets had a range of 10 to 12 kms and barrel measuring two to two and a half feet long, said the IG by adding; 'bomb disposal squads were examining the spot of impact of the rockets and their parts.'

He said timer devices made it possible to fire such rockets unmanned after setting them in a suitable place and even fixing them in a vehicle. "We were able to defuse three such rockets with timer devices sometime back in the mountains near Kohat. The rockets were ready to be fired but our cops found them just in time," he recalled.

Emergency Meeting

The IGP and Chief Secretary Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi, along with senior police officers, went into an emergency meeting after the rocket attack to discuss the situation and think of measures to prevent such attacks in future.

Security

'Pakistan Times' understands that in the wake of the newest episode, the rocket assault on the provincial metropolis of the NWFP, authorities have beefed-up security to the optimal.

Well-equipped special squads have been posted at all the important and sensitive installations with a caution to remain vigilant. All the government, autonomous and semi-autonomous sets-up are being advised to make requisite security arrangement to avert all sorts of risks and perils.

A formal guide-line vis-à-vis security measures, to the departments as well as to the people is expected to be disseminated in a day or two, credible sources said.

Gunship Fires, Lashkar Arrests

Meanwhile, a helicopter gunship fired at four armed men in the cordoned off area in South Waziristan on Tuesday while a Lashkar formed by the Mahsud tribe arrested three men in connection with Monday’s ambush of an army convoy that killed 12 soldiers and caused injuries to another 24.

Brigadier (Retd) Mahmud Shah, Secretary (security), Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), said ground troops in the Kalosha area summoned the helicopter gunship when the four men armed with guns tried to run away.

"Our reports are that two of them were hit and they may even have been killed. The helicopter gunship held its fire when women appeared on the scene," he added.

Situations Quiet

Apart from this incident, tribal sources said the situation was generally quiet in the affected area on Tuesday. But heavy firing with artillery and mortars guns broke the stillness of the night at 10 pm.

Residents in Wana said the firing appeared to be outgoing and was coming out from a colony in Zairay Noor. It wasn’t clear if the troops were retaliating after having come under attack or was on account of some other reason.

US appreciates operation in Pakistani Tribal Areas

Meanwhile, US deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz Tuesday said United States "appreciates" the operation in South Waziristan, which he termed "another sign of great seriousness by Pakistan and Pakistani Government to deal with terrorists."

Asked to comment on the ongoing major operation in the Tribal Areas against foreign fugitives, said to be hiding there, Wolfowitz told Khalil Bughio, special correspondent of Pakistan's state-owned news agency that "we appreciate it very much."