PESHAWAR: The army gave a final call on Saturday to all tribal people stranded in North Waziristan to leave the area as air force planes carried out bombings and artillery shelled hideouts, leaving 19 suspected militants dead. The army claimed arresting a man suspected to be an Al Qaeda militant.

“Most civilians have been evacuated from North Waziristan. To make sure that there are no innocent civilians still left in the area, announcements are being made that any tribal person who may have stayed back for any reason should leave,” a statement issued by the Inter Services Public Relations said.

According to the Fata Disaster Management Auth­o­rity, 456,508 displaced persons have been registered at Sadgai checkpoint so far.

There are reports that some civilians have stayed back to protect their property.

Conference cautions against prolonging operation

For the first time, the sec­u­rity forces made announcements in the area, asking peo­ple to leave before a ground offensive was launched.

Meanwhile, a conference of political parties convened by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in Peshawar said continuation of combat action for an indefinite period would be dangerous and noted that a timeframe had not been announced for the military operation in North Waziristan.

“Launching the military offensive without planning and a timeframe was not a wise move. Its continuation for an indefinite period will be dangerous,” a joint declaration issued after the conference said.

“Innocent people should not be targeted in the name of collateral damage in North Waziristan Agency,” the declaration said.

The ‘All Party Conference’ discussed the situation against the backdrop of Operation Zarb-i-Azb and its impact on the province.

It approved an 18-point declaration, which was read out by provincial Informa­tion Minister Shah Farman at a press conference.

The participants said the federal government should have convened such a conference before launching the operation.

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak presided over the conference. It was attended, among others, by leaders of the Jamaat-i-Islami, JUI-Fazl, Awami National Party, PPP and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

In the tribal region, the security forces claimed gains in the operation.

TTP Leader killed

According to ISPR, 19 `terrorists’ had laid down their arms. It expressed confidence that more militants would do so.

The military claimed killing Umar, a leader of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakis­tan, near Miramshah, the administrative headquarters of North Waziristan.

Official claims about killings and surrender of terrorists cannot be verified thro­ugh independent sour­ces because the media have no access to the conflict zone.

The press release said aircraft destroyed six terrorist hideouts on the outskirts of Mirali and 11 militants were killed on Friday night.

Integrated fire by tanks and heavy weapons killed seven suspected terrorists near Miramshah.

The ISPR said an important militant of Al Qaeda had been arrested while trying to flee the cordoned area. Initial interrogation showed that he had expertise in making improvised explosive devices and suicide belts, it added.

Security personnel arrested three suspected terrorists while they were trying to cross the Indus near Mianwali. All crossing points along the river are being manned to stoop the terrorists from escaping.

According to ISPR, supply and distribution of ration to the displaced people was improving and 21,543 packets, each containing 110kg of ration, had been distributed at six relief delivery points set up by the army in collaboration with the administration in Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Tank.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2014