WANA, June 24: Fresh skirmishes between security forces and suspected tribal militants have been reported from certain parts of the troubled South Waziristan on Wednesday night after being relatively peaceful for the last few days.
In a related development, tribal elders, paramilitary forces and local authorities launched a joint search operation in the Shakai area on Thursday for suspected militants.
Officials believe that Shakai is one of the possible hideouts of foreign militants in the region near the border with Afghanistan. Officials and eyewitnesses said that paramilitary forces and militants exchanged fire on the outskirts of Shakai, Jonikhel and Sanga areas.
The firing continued intermittently for two hours during which security forces used long-range artillery to flush out miscreants from their positions. No casualties have been reported, though.
They said that elders and security forces had started the search operation in Shakai to locate foreign militants and their local supporters, but could not catch any wanted element.
A jirga of Mahsud tribe, held in Barwand on Thursday, denied the presence of Al Qaeda or any foreign militants in their area. The jirga unanimously decided that if any person was found sheltering Al Qaeda or any other foreigner, his house would be demolished and a fine of Rs100,000 would be imposed on him.
Meanwhile, the Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ) has vowed to stage a protest rally in Dera Ismail Khan on Friday against a ban imposed on the movement of local journalists in South Waziristan.
This was decided in a meeting of TUJ which was presided over by its president, Sailab Mahsud. Administrator Asmatullah Khan Gandapur has imposed restrictions on local journalists and stopped them from covering the operation against suspected militants in the agency.
It was decided that a protest rally would be organized in Dera Ismail Khan to raise voice against the ban. A delegation of TUJ would also visit Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar to apprise the main media bodies of the situation.
AFP Adds: A pre-dawn rocket and grenade attack in Dera Ismail Khan on Thursday left seven police officers injured. The district borders the troubled region of South Waziristan.
One of the injured policemen was in serious condition in the hospital, police official Habibur Rehman told AFP. "We believe the attack was in retaliation for the operation in neighbouring South Waziristan tribal belt," he said.
About the house-to-house search, a military statement said" "So far the lashkar (tribal force) has searched over 200 houses during the last three days and has vowed to continue the search till the area is cleansed of all terrorists."
It added that unidentified men fired several rockets at a military post in Razmak near Shakai but caused no casualties or damage. This was the first attack on security forces in the region since a missile strike killed pro-Taliban militant leader Nek Mohammad last week near Wana.
Officials said the process of persuading militants to surrender and get amnesty would continue but another military operation could not be ruled out.
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