Thousands of people fled the tense tribal region of North Waziristan, a day after rebels there tore up the controversial peace accord they had struck last year with the government of President Pervez Musharraf.

Security forces remained on high alert in the wake of the bombings, which targeted two troop convoys and a police centre near the Afghan border in apparent retaliation for last week's assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad.

al-Qaeda and local Islamic hardliners have called for holy war against Musharraf following the two-day raid on the pro-Taliban mosque, in which at least 11 troops and 75 people, mostly militants, were killed.

A government representative met elders in Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, "to find out the status of the pact after the reported statement by Taliban commanders that they are scrapping it," a government official told AFP.

"We are trying to engage them in a bid to keep the accord intact," the governor of North West Frontier Province and the architect of the deal, Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai, was quoted as telling The News daily.

The talks also dealt with complaints by tribesmen that troops have taken up positions at checkpoints, which were abandoned under the deal, and about unpaid compensation for previous military operations, local sources said.

Under the September deal -- heavily criticised by Washington and Kabul -- the militants had vowed to stop cross-border attacks in war-torn Afghanistan and hunt down foreign insurgents hiding in the lawless mountain areas.

Hundreds of al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents took shelter in the region after US-led forces overthrew the hardline Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

But the Taliban Shura (Taliban Council) scrapped the deal Sunday, protesting the troop build-up and new checkpoints and calling on local tribal militias to stop all cooperation with the central government in Islamabad.

Bazaars were deserted as hundreds of families fled Miranshah for safer areas, and state-run Radio Pakistan went off the air when broadcasters joined other government officials in leaving the area, local residents said.

Troops also stepped up security around the town's fort.

Meanwhile the chief minister of North West Frontier Province, Akram Durrani, on Monday summoned a meeting of key clerics, tribal elders and lawmakers to discuss the security situation, his spokesman told AFP.