PARACHINAR, Oct 17: Army troops will begin deployment in Parachinar, the headquarters of Kurram Agency, and its surroundings from Tuesday (today), official sources say.

This follows an undertaking given by the tribal elders and other stakeholders to abide by the Murree Agreement that rival factions of Kurram Agency had signed in October 2008.

Mosques in the area announced on Monday that troops would start patrolling the town from Tuesday. Residents were cautioned not to carry or display arms in public and cooperate with the security forces.

They were told to carry their national identity cards with them when going out.Elders of various tribes again signed the Murree peace deal in Parachinar on Oct 9, 2011. Members of the jirga who are facilitating peace talks and senior officials had also witnessed the ceremony.

Residents said that several checkpoints were being established in and outside the town having a population of over 40,000. They said that Parachinar city was being sealed from all sides.

Concerned officials in Peshawar expressed ignorance about the proposed movement of troops in the volatile valley. Sources said that after Parachinar the army and paramilitary forces would be deployed along Thall-Parachinar Road to make the highway secure for passengers traveling between Kurram and Peshawar that had remained unsafe since November 2007.

Security forces completed operation against militants in central Kurram in August last and return of internally displaced persons to their area had been started.

In another significant development, security forces arrested several 'important' persons from different parts of Kurram Agency and Peshawar during the last couple of days.

Official sources said that Syed Kazim was arrested from Parachinar while Shamsur Rehman, a close associate of Commander Fazal Saeed Haqqani, was picked up from Bagun, lower Kurram, last week. Four other unidentified persons had been arrested from different areas of lower Kurram.

Sources said that secret agencies picked up Eid Nazar, an important character behind the unrest in Kurram, from Peshawar a few days back. Police did not confirm his arrest. These sources said that the arrested persons had been shifted to Kohat for interrogation.

Meanwhile, the political administration arrested 35 residents from Chappari in connection with kidnapping of two paramilitary soldiers.

Officials said that residents had been arrested under the territorial responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

Two soldiers were going from Thall garrison to their base in Alizai when gunmen kidnapped them from the main road last week.