MIRAMSHAH, Sept 22: Security forces have arrested 10 suspects, some of them foreigners, and seized ammunition during a search operation in Datakhel tehsil of the North Waziristan Agency on Thursday, military sources said.

Personnel of the Quick Reaction Force and army troops backed by Cobra and transport helicopters conducted the operation in three areas near the Afghan border— Madakhel, Maizer and Manzerkhel.

The sources said that one soldier had received injuries after suspected militants attacked a military convoy on Wednesday night. The army convoy, comprising 100 vehicles, was heading from Miramshah to Datakhel.

They said wounded soldier Mohammad Farooq had been shifted to a military hospital in Bannu district. The operation was in progress in Maizer till filing of this report.

Official sources said in Peshawar that operation had been started in the rugged area after miscreants had three suspects released from the security forces in Maizer area some two days ago. These suspects were being shifted from Maizer to a military camp in Miramshah for interrogation.

NWFP Governor Khalil-ur-Rehman told newsmen in Peshawar on Wednesday that a militant commander Baitullah Mahsood had recruited about 2,000 volunteers and increased his activities in the South Waziristan Agency.

In Thursday’s operation, the security forces had laid siege to several residential compounds in Madakhel, Maizer and Manzerkhel, about 45km west of Miramshah, in the morning.

During the house-to-house search in Madakhel, 10 suspects, including a few foreigners, were arrested and seven passports seized. Military officials declined to disclose the identity of the detained persons, who were shifted to unknown location for interrogation.

The sources said the security forces had recovered 600 rounds of anti aircraft guns from a house and ammunition from a vehicle in Madakhel area.

However, Online news agency reported that a foreigner militant has also been killed in the operation on Thursday.