MIRAMSHAH (North Waziristan), July 25: Missile and rocket explosions rocked parts of the restive North Waziristan Agency on Sunday night while an army officer suffered injuries in remote- controlled bomb blasts, sources said. Official sources said that 40 missiles and rockets were simultaneously fired from different directions, which landed in the surroundings of the army installations and government offices but did not cause any casualty.

The security forces retaliated with heavy aerial firing and arrested three suspects in Razmak tehsil, they added. Authorities said that missiles hit a telephone exchange of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company in Razmak tehsil, partially damaging the machinery.

A source said that the army troops had started taking over several check-posts along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which were previously manned by the Frontier Corps. Corps Commander Peshawar Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain announced that the number of check-posts had been increased in the tribal areas and 4,000 fresh troops would be sent to the border to curb infiltration of militants from across the border.

About 80,000 army and paramilitary troops have currently been deployed in the tribal area. Reports gathered from different parts of the agency suggested that unidentified assailants fired about 40 free flight missiles and rockets, targeting the installations of the army and paramilitary forces in the area along the Afghan border.

Sources said that miscreants fired missiles in Shawal, Datakhel, Razmak, Miramshah, Dosali, Saidgai and Kajoori areas of the agency. The security forces found and defused three missiles in Shawal while three suspects were arrested in Razmak after an exchange of fire. A soldier sustained minor injuries in the shootout.

An official said that miscreants hit a military convoy with a remote control bomb in Shawal, wounding a major of the army. Following the rocket attacks, security was tightened in the agency and paramilitary forces were deployed on the hilltops in Miramshah.

In a related development, the agency’s political authorities served notices on the Ahmadzai Wazir and Dawar tribes to hand over foreign and local suspects, warning them that otherwise action would be taken under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crime Regulation. The notices were served after a joint jirga of elders and Ulema in Miramshah on Sunday threatened to boycott developmental activities carried out by the army in the area.