KOHAT, April 11: Hundreds of tribal families started leaving their homes in Jammu area of Jawaki village in the frontier region of Kohat because of an impending military operation against militants.Local elder Shafarish Khan and the political administration confirmed that the army had ordered the families to leave the area and move to safe places like Siab and Gandiali on the Rawalpindi road.

“Rich people are going to Kohat city where house rents have seen an exorbitant rise. About 6000 to 10,000 people of Jammu have been displaced and the army has set up checkposts in the area,” an official told Dawn.

He said it was not clear when the operation would start and end because in the past the army had claimed that Darra Adamkhel and Fata would be cleared in months, but it had not been able to do more than partly containing the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in five years.

Jammu is sandwiched between Darra Adamkhel and Kohat and is under constant attacks from militants camped in the mountains.

They recently fired rockets at a funeral in Jammu and injured two tribesmen. The TTP enforced Shariah in the area in 2009 and punished tribesmen for not sporting beard and for running CD shops.