KOHAT, Dec 25: A top commander of Orakzai Taliban was arrested and an explosives-laden van prepared for carrying out a suicide attack on a military convoy seized in a joint raid on a house in Doaba area of Hangu after a fierce battle with terrorists on Saturday.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) local commander Abu Bakr was arrested in injured condition along with his two accomplices Anwar and Hafiz Saeed Gul, owner of the house, after six hours long operation.

Deputy inspector general of police, Kohat region, Muhammad Masood Afridi told Dawn that the suicide vehicle was loaded with explosives to strike a military convoy, which was scheduled to move from Kohat to Thall on Saturday.

Regional head of the bomb disposal squad Muhammad Akbar Khan said that the explosives were attached to multiple ignition systems. He said that the bomb disposal squad recovered 300 kilogrammes of explosives, five gallons of petrol, three gas cylinders, three rockets, five mortars and five land mines. Every cavity of the vehicle was cleverly filled with explosives, he added.

The explosives and gadgets fixed in the pick-up van (DN-4236) were carefully dismantled by a team of experts, the BDS head said.

Acting on a tip-off given by the intelligence agencies, the military and police raided a house, owned by Hafiz Saeed Gul, in Maroofi Banda area in the jurisdiction of Doaba police station. SHO Doaba police Gulzar Khan told this correspondent that the forces cordoned off the whole area and asked the suspects to surrender, but they instead opened firing which was duly returned by them. He said that in the six-hour battle three militants were injured and later arrested while trying to flee towards the nearby mountains. He said that the SSR pick-up van that was reportedly prepared for a suicide strike was also seized from the house.

The SHO said that the search operation was still in progress in the area for the arrest of other accomplices of the arrested militants. Meanwhile, the vehicle was being shifted to a secret place amid tight security from Doaba to Hangu.