PESHAWAR: The political administration of Khyber tribal region has given a three-day deadline to militants in the Jamrud and Bara areas to lay down their arms and surrender or face a full-fledged operation.

Pamphlets containing the message and deadline were dropped from helicopters into the Jamrud and Bara areas of Khyber tribal region.

The announcement effectively ended hopes of talks, which a tribal jirga had recommended to the government, a day earlier.

Most jirga members had wanted an immediate halt to the ongoing ‘Operation Khyber 1’ in the area and asked for a channel of negotiations should be opened with outlawed militant groups of Bara.

Khyber agency's political agent Shahab Ali Shah, however, had rejected the jirga recommendations about holding talks with militant groups and said the jirga was not convened to authorise elders to hold talks with anti-state elements.

“You are authorised only to talk to those who surrender to security forces and accept the writ of the government,” he said.

The jirga ended inconclusively as tribal elders refused to shoulder the Collective Territorial Responsibilities during the ongoing military operation against militants in their respective areas.

At least 30 suspects militants have died during the ongoing operation which was launched on credible information about the presence of militants in parts of Sipah and Akkakhel areas, according to Shahab Ali Shah.

Mangal Bagh-led Lashkar-i-Islam has had a strong presence in the areas being targeted in the operation.

Anticipating a military operation in their areas in Tirah valley, hundreds of Akkakhel families had begun leaving their homes in Dars Jumaat, Shaddaly, Darota and Kulla areas of Akkakhel in Tirah valley.

The latest operation was launched amidst 'Zarb-i-Azb', a full-fledged military operation being conducted by the Pakistani military against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in North Waziristan tribal region.