GILGIT, April 9: The Northern Areas administration on Monday banned all the buses illegally plying on various routes in the region from lifting passengers, but allowed their private use, official sources said.

The action, they said, was taken on the complaints of owners of the legal vehicles.

Around 2,000 wagons smuggled in the region from Afghanistan and Swat (NWFP) were engaged in the transportation business while over 4,000 vehicles including luxury cars, land cruisers and motorcycles are present in the region, which were either stolen or smuggled, the sources said.

Action cannot be taken against these vehicles because the region does not fall in the constitutional ambit of Pakistan.