MIRANSHAH, April 7: Pakistan is positioning hundreds of troops for a new operation to hunt down Al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives in its mountainous northwest Afghan border, security officials said on Wednesday.

The new offensive will target the tribal zone of North Waziristan, neighbouring South Waziristan, the scene of a disastrous government operation last month against 500 diehard fighters and allied tribesmen.

"There might be an operation there, we are there for this purpose," security chief for the northwest tribal areas, Brigadier Mahmood Shah, told AFP. Troops have been relocated from South Waziristan to the border district of Shawal, 20 kilometres from Miranshah.

Some of the 300 fighters who escaped last month's operation are believed to have fled to near-inaccessible areas around Shawal which lie opposite Taliban-dominated regions the Afghan side, a senior security official said. -AFP