Farid Mehsud, principal of the Oxford Public School in Tank, which borders the restive South Waziristan tribal region, and his brother Humayun were abducted by about a dozen gunmen from his house on Tuesday.

The previous day a militant leader and a policeman were killed in a clash outside the school after police called by Mehsud prevented the Taleban entering to recruit young men to fight in Afghanistan.

“I have received a telephone call from a tribal jirga (council of elders) that both of them have been released,” their brother Khurshid told reporters in Tank.

The release was negotiated by an eight-member council led by a local cleric, he said.

A council member told him that Farid and Humayun had been handed over to the jirga and they would reach Tank late Friday, Khurshid said but gave no further details.

Tank, which adjoins the troubled tribal region of South Waziristan, remained under curfew for a third day Friday due to a round of violence sparked by the incident at the school.

Officials reported no further clashes there on Friday.

Analysts said the incident at the school was further proof of the increasing Talebanisation of parts of Pakistan.