Suspected Islamist militants shot dead eight tribal leaders in coordinated attacks just hours before they were due to discuss a planned ceasefire between Pakistan’s security forces and al-Qaeda and Taleban insurgents near the border with Afghanistan.

The killings took place yesterday morning and on Sunday night in the mountainous region of South Waziristan, home to Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban leader who has been blamed by the Government for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last month.

There are now fears that fighting could worsen in northwestern Pakistan, after the expiry of a militant deadline and the resignation on Saturday of a leading local official who had long advocated a negotiated solution. While not explicitly blaming Mr Mehsud for the latest killings, the Pakistani Government announced yesterday that it was preparing to launch a big offensive against him.

The Government also responded angrily to reports that the United States was considering an expansion of covert operations in northwestern Pakistan, where militants have been sheltering since fleeing the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

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The eight tribal leaders, who were members of a peace committee formed to negotiate a truce, died in attacks on their offices in the towns of Wana and Shkai, only a few hours before they were due to meet to discuss the ceasefire negotiations, according to a statement from the military.

The killings came within two days of the resignation of an official in charge of Pakistan’s tribal areas who negotiated a ceasefire with the militants in 2006. Lieutenant-General (Retd) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai cited personal reasons for his resignation as governor of North West Frontier Province, but he is thought widely to have stepped down because President Musharraf insisted, against his advice, on launching an offensive against Mr Mehsud. “Someone, during these conversations, may have overstepped the bounds of decency and accused the Governor of supporting the hostiles,” Khalid Aziz, a former chief secretary of the province, said.

General Aurakzai had tried to avoid open conflict with the militants by using moderate tribal leaders in the region to negotiate truces. His ceasefire in 2006 unwound after government forces stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.

Yesterday a suicide car-bomber attacked a military camp in Swat, wounding ten people, eight of them soldiers, a military official said. Mr Masoud has denied involvement in Ms Bhutto’s assassination but has pledged to wage “all-out war” in northwestern Pakistan if the army did not leave Swat by January 5. The United States is considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan, according to the New York Times on Sunday.

Pakistan, however, says that no such operations will take place on its soil. “Pakistan’s position in the War on Terror has been very clear — that any action on Pakistani soil will be taken only by Pakistani forces and Pakistani security agencies,” Mohammad Sadiq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard detectives investigating Ms Bhutto’s assassination have examined the partial remains of people killed with her in a the terror attack on December 27.

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