Bara, Pakistan ? Pakistani security forces have eased an operation against insurgents in a tribal region near the border with Afghanistan as local elders try to negotiate peace with a militant leader, a government official said Saturday.

Muhammad Ali, an official in charge of the government’s crisis management center, said security forces had stopped demolishing militant centers and that the round-the-clock curfew in the troubled town of Bara – a focus of the operation – was being relaxed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The offensive in the Khyber area was launched June 28 to flush out militants threatening Peshawar, a major northwest city, and to secure a road used to send supplies to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

A key target of the offensive is Lashkar-e-Islam, a militant group headed by Mangal Bagh. It and a rival group, Ansarul Islam, are accused of trying to impose their own Taliban-style Islamic rule in Khyber.

Amal Khan, leader of a 35-member council of elders, said he had met with Bagh and that the militant leader had showed interest in peacefully ending the operation.

“Today, I will meet with the government to inform it of what we discussed with Mangal Bagh,” Khan said.

On Saturday, shops in Bara were open, selling cloth, electronics and food. Paramilitary forces had only a minor visible presence in the area.

The operation is a shift for Pakistan’s government, which has sought to end militant violence through peace deals since coming to power after February elections.

That approach has faced criticism from the United States, where officials say the deals will simply give militants time to regroup and intensify attacks in neighboring Afghanistan.

The operation has also faced criticism from skeptics who say it has met with scant resistance and appears to have led to the death of only one militant.

Many militants apparently fled before the operation started.

A senior politician in the North West Frontier Province said supporters of Lashkar-e-Islam and Ansarul Islam fled to the remote Tirah valley ahead of the crackdown.

The politician requested anonymity because his party is a member of the ruling coalition and does not want to publicly criticize the government.

Despite the operation, the two groups have been fighting each other this week in the valley, reportedly killing dozens.

Still, the government has publicly insisted it is serious about taking control in Khyber.

The Ministry of Interior said it has arrested 92 “criminals” and seized large caches of arms and ammunition in Khyber, and that 128 other suspects have been arrested and drugs and weapons seized separately in Peshawar.