TANK, March 8: A close companion of militant commander Baitullah Mehsud was captured in a joint operation conducted by Nato and Afghan forces in a Pakistan region on Wednesday, informed sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The sources said that two military helicopters landed in the Lawara area of Shawal adjacent to Afghanistan’s Paktika province and armed personnel captured Hakimullah Mehsud. However, five foreign comrades of Mehsud escaped.

The sources said that Hakimullah was flown into Afghanistan for interrogation.

Security officials in Peshawar expressed ignorance about the incursion of Nato forces in the tribal areas.

Reports reaching here said that Nato forces had intensified their aerial activities over the tribal areas apparently in view of a spring offensive likely to be launched by Taliban. People living in tribal areas close to the Afghan border said that spy planes and choppers had increased their reconnaissance missions in the region.

In a related development, the Pakistan army has started fencing selected areas along the Pakistan-Afghan border in South Waziristan Agency.

Witnesses said that 15 army trucks loaded with barbed wire and other material had been dispatched from a garrison in the Dera Ismail Khan to the South Waziristan Agency via Tank on Thursday.

They said that 10 military trucks carrying razor-wire had been seen heading towards Wana on Wednesday.

An official told Dawn that army had conducted a survey of the border areas where barbed-wire would be placed, adding that apart from the restive North and South Waziristan agencies, some other points had also been identified in Mohmand and Bajaur agencies for fencing.

Army engineers were doing their job and necessary material was being transported to these places, said the official on condition of anonymity.