TANK, March 28: Army was called in to establish the writ of the government in Tank on Wednesday after fierce overnight clashes between paramilitary forces and militants. The eight-hour showdown between the forces and militants left a paramilitary soldier and another man dead and two others wounded, an official said.

But residents said the blood stains and bodies seen on the roads and streets indicated that many casualties had occurred.

There was chaos all around as residents were seen leaving the city heading towards rural areas, in large numbers throughout the day. Authorities had asked the people to stay indoors.

Witnesses said a strong corps of militants was holding positions in Wazirabad, Muhalla Mehsudan and Barkiabad localities, while security forces patrolled the cantonment area.

After several waves of mortar and rocket attacks on government installations and private property on Tuesday night, bands of youths went on the rampage and looted same banks and shops.

District Coordination Officer Syed Muhsin Shah said troops had arrived from Dera Ismail Khan to maintain order, but he denied reports that a curfew had been imposed.

However, AFP quoted local police chief Zulfikar Cheema as saying: “The administration has imposed a curfew in district Tank for an unspecified period in the wake of deteriorating law and order.”

Militants stormed the town to avenge the killing of their two accomplices by police on Monday when they tried to force the management of a private school to allow them to take away students for training. Two security men were killed in the encounter and 13 people were wounded in subsequent gunfire between militants and law-enforcement personnel.

Sources said that the fate of the principal of the Oxford Public School and his brother, who had been kidnapped by militants from their home on Tuesday for not allowing them to take away students, was still unknown.

Officials said a paramilitary soldier was killed and another wounded in Tuesday night’s clashes. Four unidentified bodies had been found at different places.

The first onslaught was launched at about 8pm on Tuesday, which continued for an hour. The sources said the militants targeted police posts and a fort of the Frontier Constabulary from the Wazirabad area. Security forces retaliated with heavy machinegun fire.

After a brief lull, the militants launched another attack targeting security forces, banks and government institutions. The heavy exchange of fire continued all night.

Paramilitary forces also used light infantry to dislodge the militants. Pools of blood were seen in the battle zone and two bodies were later found in the area. Residents said a mentally deranged man was among the dead.

Officials said five bank branches, a National Savings Centre and an office of the National Database and Registration Authority were robbed. Armed men took away about Rs3 million from a bank.

The security forces repulsed the attackers when they proceeded towards the main branch of the National Bank. Residents said street children stormed government offices and banks, and took away furniture during the lawlessness.

The government sent a jirga to South Waziristan to meet militant commander Baitullah Mehsud and seek his help in calming the situation in Tank.

Agencies add: According to an intelligence official, Mr Mehsud promised to the jirga that he would try to secure the freedom of the kidnapped men, without saying whether his men were holding them.

A local militant told The Associated Press that they were questioning the principal to determine whether he had alerted police about the presence of their associates at the school.

“We will kill him if we find him guilty,” the militant said.

He said those who fought the police in the city were followers of Mr Mehsud.“All clues in the kidnapping point to Baitullah, because the people who were at the school (on Monday) were linked to him,” the intelligence official said.

Several hundred gunmen launched the attack, sparking the battle that left at least one man of the Frontier Constabulary dead, local police chief Omar Hayyat said.

Military helicopters circled over the town after the latest clashes.

After driving away the principal and his brother in a vehicle on Tuesday, the militants fired rockets at a police station and nearby government buildings and set two banks on fire, said Mohammed Qasim, a police official. They withdrew shortly before dawn.

Jalandhar Khan, a guard at a damaged branch of the Habib Bank, told reporters that about 20 militants had fired rockets at the bank and tried to break the safe on Tuesday. “After failing to steal the money, they sprinkled petrol on furniture inside the bank and set it on fire,” he said.

He said the militants told him that they had attacked the town to avenge the killing of their comrades at the school.

Zulfiqar Cheema, the regional police chief, declined to say who was responsible for the attack, describing them only as ‘terrorists’.