MIRAMSHAH (North Waziristan), July 14: Military authorities have given a 24-hour deadline to the Utmanzai tribesmen in the North Waziristan Agency to expel foreign militants from their areas or face ‘large scale’ action. Speaking at a jirga of the Utmanzai clan, a sub tribe of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe, General Officer Commanding (GOC) North Waziristan Maj-Gen Akram Sahi warned it that the security forces would take action if the tribesmen failed to fulfil their collective responsibilities and expel foreign militants.

“You have only 24 hours to flush out miscreants from the area. If the tribe fails to catch the militants, the army troops can react any time,” Maj-Gen Sahi warned the tribal elders.

“The army does not want collateral damage” he said, “but it has the option to use maximum force to crush militants and dismantle their hideouts.

The authorities want tribesmen to catch militants who killed a soldier and wounded four others in Meradeen area of the forest-covered Shawal region in the North Waziristan Agency on July 6. Six persons were arrested on the spot but the military authorities believe that real culprits are still at large.