MANSEHRA, Aug 13: A search operation was launched on Monday in the tribal belt of Kala Dhaka by the law enforcement agencies for Al Qaeda men on the directives of the interior ministry.

The police in the district are on alert and the doctors and paramedical staff at the hospitals have been asked to remain on duty round the clock to meet any emergency.

Heavily armed contingents of the frontier constabulary have encircled the tribal belt along the Indus River and reports reaching here reveal that the tribesmen have blocked the Dour Maira road, connecting the area with Mansehra district.

It is learnt that 22 Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Peshawar have disclosed that they have their hideouts in Kala Dhaka where some of their companions are getting training.

A police officer said a sensitive agency had found clues that some suspects involved in attacks in different parts of the country had taken shelter in the tribal belt.

When contacted, Mansehra District Nazim Mohammad Azam Khan Swati said the NWFP governor had phoned him on Sunday night and asked him to make vehicles and logistics arrangement for the paramilitary troops carrying out the operation.

He said the governor had received a fax message from the interior  ministry on Sunday in this regard.

Asked if he was taken into confidence about the operation, Azam Swati said the matter was sensitive so it had been kept secret and the operation was being carried on the directives of the federal government.

Replying to another question, he said he did not know whether the officials of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation or any other foreign agency were helping the troops in the operation.

The police on Aug 9 raided a house here in Ghazikot township, arrested 10 people and took into possession a jeep (RIP-8144), but they proved their identity as officers of a secret agency and were released. The officers, according to a source in the police, were on a mission for tracking the Al Qaeda men in Kala Dhaka.   Senior superintendent and deputy superintendent of Mansehra police were not available for comments.

Sources said the FC troops had taken positions along the Indus and  were facing difficulty in making advance as the tribesmen had blocked the Dour Maira Road. They said the situation was tense.

The Kala Dhaka area has a population of 300,000, mostly comprising the  Bassi Khel, Mada Khel, Nusrat Khel, Akazia and Hassanzai tribes. The area borders Mansehra, Buner, Swat, Mardan, Batagram and Haripur districts.

The sources said the entry points of the area had been kept under strict surveillance by the law enforcement agencies to check the movement of the suspects.