MIRAMSHAH, Aug 16: NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai on Thursday rushed to Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, in a bid to bring tribal elders back to the negotiating table amid fresh attacks on security forces in which two soldiers were killed.

The governor held talks with 60 elders and clerics of the area and told them that negotiations were the only solution to the problems. “Tribal elders, clerics and the government are parties to the issue and there is enough time to sort out things.”

It was Mr Aurakzai’s first visit to the area after the local Taliban had on July 15 scrapped a peace deal with the government in protest against the deployment of troops on checkpoints in the agency. Heavy exchange of fire was going on between the security forces and militants near Miramshah when the governor was addressing the jirga of elders and clerics.

Describing the situation in North Waziristan as critical, Mr Aurakzai said that elders, clerics and the government should expedite efforts to restore peace to the area. He said the peace deal was based on mutual trust, but it could not be implemented in the letter and spirit.

“We still have time to provide an opportunity to the people of Waziristan to live in peace,” he said. In reply to a question, he said the government did not ban the supply of petrol and diesel to the area.

Cleric Maulana Abdur Rehman informed the governor that foreign elements were behind the lawlessness in the area. He said that Indian consulates in Afghanistan were planning to create instability in the tribal region.

He said that foreign forces were opposing the peace deal with the government, adding that innocent people, including women and children, were being killed in the military operations.

The NWFP governor also visited Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram Agency, where political agent Sahibzada Mohammad Anees briefed him about the prevailing law and order situation in the agency.

SOLDIERS KILLED: Two soldiers were killed and four others wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside explosive device in the North Waziristan Agency.

Sources said a convoy was going from Miramshah to a border post when one of its vehicles struck the bomb in the Dandi Kach area.

They said that militants attacked security posts near Gora Kabristan and Banda Post. One tribesman was injured during the exchange of fire.