Islamabad, Sep 3 (IANS) Even as struggling to meet tribal opposition in Balochistan in the aftermath of the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the Pakistan government has managed a truce with tribal leaders in the volatile Northern Waziristan, media reports said.

No local tribesman would be allowed to enter Afghanistan to attack US-led coalition forces stationed in Afghanistan under the agreement signed on Saturday by pro-Taliban militants with the Pakistan government to ensure "permanent peace" in the volatile northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border, The News International reported from Miramshah in Waziristan, quoting intelligence officials.

Under the agreement, which is likely to be unveiled by the government next week, militant will halt all attacks on government officials and security forces, and the army "will not carry out operations against them," said an area intelligence official on condition of anonymity, the newspaper reported.

"This is a good development because the Taliban have promised to stay away from militancy," said the official. "The Taliban have also agreed to distance themselves from foreign militants" hiding in the area, he added.

Another intelligence official, who also did not want to be named, said the accord was signed at a seminary near Miramshah, in North Waziristan, where the military has carried out several operations against the Islamist militants.

Residents have welcomed the ceasefire and urged the government to take steps for lasting peace, the newspaper said.

The Taliban fighters have also asked the government to abolish military checkpoints in North Waziristan so as to reduce the presence of the military in the area.

Waziristan has been home to an unspecified numbers of foreign mercenaries of various Arab nationalities, besides Chechens, Uzbeks and the Chinese Uighours.

Though the government officials and Loya Jirga (grand tribal council) members were tightlipped about the terms of the proposed agreement, it was learnt that foreign militants hiding in North Waziristan would be given the option to stay there under protection of the tribes after furnishing "guarantees of good conduct".

According to various media reports in the West, Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban head Mullah Omar have lived in this area at some time or the other. The sympathetic Pushtun tribals have sheltered the Taliban insurgents in Waziristan.

Pakistan has deployed more than 80,000 troops in the country's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan that has witnessed virtually unchecked movement of Taliban for the last four years.