KOHAT, Dec 21: Some 139 Arab fighters of the Al-Qaeda network were shifted to the Kohat Central Prison from the Alizai area amid tight security on Friday, sources told Dawn.

These Arabs were among the 156 Al-Qaeda members, who were captured in the Kurram Agency after they had sneaked into the Pakistan tribal area, fleeing intense US bombardment on the Tora Bora base of Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network.

The sources said a unit of army troops, aided by armoured personnel carriers and prison trucks from Peshawar, had been dispatched to escort the Arabs to the prison to avoid any security lapse.

On Wednesday, a group of 48 Arabs of the 156 Al-Qaeda fighters had overpowered escorting guards in the Kurram frontier region near Arawali while they were being shifted from Parachinar to Kohat, and fled.

Pakistani authorities recaptured all the fleeing Arabs except seven, who are still at large, while around 10 were killed in pitched gunbattles with the security agencies in adjoining mountainous areas.

Army helicopters continued search operations in the areas throughout the day.

The sources said that army personnel had been deployed around the Kohat prison to ensure law and order in the area, as the government would not take any chance with regard to the security of the battle-hardened Arab fighters.