DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Nov 8: Local organizations of various religious parties have taken steps to make the strike called by the Pakistan-Afghanistan Defence Council (PADC) for Friday a success.

The Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan has formed a group, Lashkar-i-Ababil, to disrupt transport and force the business community to keep their shutters down.

PADC is an umbrella organization of various religio-political parties who are against Pakistan’s support to the US-led air strikes in Afghanistan. It has called the strike to express solidarity with the Taliban.

Jamiat Ulema Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been under house arrest for many weeks now, but he was shifted to the Chashma Rest House from Dera Ismail Khan to foil the strike.

Other JUI leaders have gone under ground to evade arrest by the law enforcement agencies.

The district president of Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, Haji Islamuddin, and general secretary Saifur Rehman Bangash told Dawn that the strike would prove that the masses had rejected the government policy on the United States war against Taliban.

They said that the US designs to install a puppet regime in Kabul would be frustrated at all costs.