ISLAMABAD, Sept 24: The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) has said it is out of the question that militants will provide security cover to armed forces.

Reacting to a statement by tribal negotiator Maulana Asamuddin that militant commander Baitullah Mehsud had agreed to provide safe passage to security forces between Jandola and Wana, a spokesman for the ISPR said the security forces deployed their own security apparatus when moving from one place to another.

Dawn had quoted Maulana Asamuddin, a member of peace jirga, as saying that both sides had agreed to take confidence-building measures before the release of soldiers taken hostage by militants in the Mehsud-dominated area on August 30.