09 June 2004	Wednesday	20 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

WANA, June 8: The government on Tuesday warned of bulldozing the Wana bazaar after thousands of tribal volunteers appeared to have failed to capture any of the foreign militants hiding in the South Waziristan tribal region.

The administrator of the region, Asmatullah Gandapur, warned on Tuesday that the Wana bazaar, which was closed 10 days ago as part of economic sanctions against the Ahmadzai Wazirs, would be completely demolished.

He, however, did not indicate when the fresh punitive action would be taken against the tribe. He said the tribesmen would have to accomplish their collective responsibilities to avert a 'strong punitive action' under Section 21 of the Frontier Crimes Regulations.

It may be mentioned that Wana bazaar was demolished in 1976 after the Mahsud and Wazir tribes clashed over the construction of the Gomal Road. The collective responsibility clause of the FCR was invoked last month when the administration sealed shops and other property of Ahmadzai Wazirs tribesmen in Wana and in the settled districts of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan.

The tribe is required to produce foreigners living in its region for registration or deny them shelter in the territory. Meanwhile, the 4,000-strong tribal lashkar continued its house-to-house search operation in the Shakai area for the second consecutive day, but failed to find any foreign militant.

An uneasy calm prevails in the region and army troops and paramilitary forces are digging trenches and mounting heavy weapons on hilltops in Azam Warsak, Shin Warsak and Shakai.