ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 (KUNA) — Several hours have been passed but no clue has been found of 135 missing Pakistani soldiers in the country’s volatile South Waziristan tribal agency along war-ravaged Afghanistan, and a tribal Jirga was dispatched to negotiate their release.

About 135 soldiers in 16 trucks were traveling to Ludha subdivision from Wana, the agency’s main town, Thursday afternoon when militants hiding in the surrounding mountains intercepted the convoy in the Mehsud-dominated tribal area of Momi Karam, about 40 km north of Wana, and took them as hostages, tribal and intelligence sources told KUNA.

They said militants impounded their vehicles and seized their weapons. They added that militants divided the kidnapped soldiers into several groups and were holding them in different areas.

Sources said the kidnapped soldiers included a colonel and at least nine senior military officials, as well as eight government officials.

Military spokesman Waheed Arshad, who had remained tight-lipped till midnight, has dismissed any reports of a large number of kidnapped soldiers. He said they had been stranded in the area owing to bad weather that damaged the bridge on the way.

“Some groups have not reached at their destinations, but they can not be called as missing,” he said.

Senator Saleh Shah, who hails from the Waziristan region, earlier confirmed the report but later retracted his statement and clarified that the soldiers had rather been given protection by Mehsud tribesmen.

He also earlier confirmed that he had been contacted by the authorities to participate in the Jirga to negotiate the release of soldiers, who had gone there to take part in a large-scale operation against militants.

However, tribal sources said a Jirga had already left for Mehsud tribe to hold talks with militants and convenience them to release soldiers unconditionally.

The dramatic development, a major blow to over three years of military efforts to eradicate militancy from the lawless tribal area, took place two-days after 19 kidnapped soldiers and officials were released.

The Mehsud tribe militants have been demanding army withdrawal from their area and abidance by a peace accord signed in 2005.

Since military conducted its deadly raid on Lal (Red) Mosque in Islamabad last month, the security situation in Pakistan’s tribal belt took a bad turn. Militants have been routinely carrying out attacks on security forces and killed over two dozen over the past few weeks, while the military claimed killing more than 300 militants in counter-attacks.

A large number of Lal Mosque students belonged to the tribal region and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). The government said nearly 103 people were killed in the operation, but clerics and opposition said the number exceeded 1,000.