LAKKI MARWAT, July 4 The army and police on Saturday conducted a joint house-to-house search operation in Shah Hasankhel, a village believed to be stronghold of militants.

Sources said that the security forces surrounded the village and pounded hideouts of militants in the mountainous area with mortar shells.

There were no immediate report of any casualty but one suspect identified as Imran was reportedly arrested in the day-long operation.

The forces moved towards the village in the early morning.

“Several hideouts used by the militants were destroyed as a result of artillery shelling,” a source said, adding that security forces also demolished at least four houses and a 'so called' seminary of the militants in the village with the help of excavators.

“Militants used the seminary as a shelter and chalked out plans for carrying out subversive acts in the district. Security forces are targeting the hideouts of militants with mortar shells,” said a villager from Zangikhel.

Residents said that police closed shops and markets on both sides of the Lakki-Mianwali road.

The link road leading to Shah Hasankhel and other villages were completely sealed and residents were directed to stay indoors.

Eyewitnesses said that bazaars and business places in the Meenakhel and Mela Mandi localities of Lakki city, however, remained open but the shoppers were in less number. The Bannu-Mianwali road and the Indus Highway also remained open for traffic.

“We heard sounds of artillery firing,” a villager said, adding that people had been restricted to their homes due to the search operation in the area. “Fear gripped the surrounded villages as the forces launched operation in Shah Hasankhel.”

Residents of the surrounding villages could not go to Lakki city for works on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the district police officer has said that law enforcement personnel had been deployed on the road leading to the area.

He said police and army had jointly launched the operation to clear the area from militants. “It is a routine action against militants,” he told a TV channel. “However, no hardcore terrorist was present in the area.”