GHALANAI, Dec 24: Security forces destroyed the houses of a Taliban commander and his two relatives during a search operation in the Mulayano Mandi village here on Wednesday.

Official sources and residents said paramilitary troops, Khasadar and Levies personnel, started a joint operation in the area when a Haleemzai tribal jirga failed to handover local Taliban commander Wajehullah and his supporters to the political administration.

The Haleezai tribes sought more time to resolve the issue through negotiations, but the political administration refused to extend the deadline, sources said.The political administration, the sources said, had issued a notice to the tribesmen to vacate Mulayano Kellay immediately. About 33 houses were vacated soon after the warning. The security forces entered the village and razed the houses of the Taliban commander and his two relatives with explosives.

The security forces also took control of the surrounding areas of the village and started digging ditches and bunkers in the region.

The main Peshawar-Bajaur highway remained close for three hours due to the operation.

Meanwhile, suspected militants blew up a rural health centre and a barrack of the Khasadar force along with the tehsil building on Wednesday.

The militants had planted improvised explosive devices in the buildings. The tehsil building has been occupied by the Taliban for several days.

Security forces targeted suspected militants’ hideouts in the Darwazgai area of the Lakkaro tehsil with artillery shells on Wednesday. However, no casualty was reported.