PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif would be celebrating Independence Day festivities in Bannu with those displaced as a result of the ongoing military operation in the North Waziristan tribal region.

Official sources said the prime minister will be present at the Independence Day ceremony which will be held at the Baka Khel camp for Internally Displaced Persons in Bannu.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said that Corps Commander Peshawar Lt-General Khalid Rabbani would be hoisting the national flag on Independence Day at the camp, while Prime Minister Sharif will join the celebrations with the IDPs later on.

The prime minister will be visiting Bannu at a time when the PTI will be marching on Islamabad to protest against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet and provincial legislators including Chief Minister Pervez Khattak were busy taking off for the long march as the first convoy of some 200 workers led by Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Member of National Assembly Sajid Nawaz and Member of Provincial Assembly Jehandad Khan have started their journey on foot.

The PTI leaders said that the convoy would later be joined by party workers in Nowshera, Swabi, Jehangira and other cities and would march on foot to Islamabad.