WANA, July 11: Clashes continued between security forces and militants in the South Waziristan tribal region for second consecutive day on Sunday.
Pakistan Air Force jets, flying at high altitude, made several sorties on the area but did not drop bombs.
Eyewitnesses said that the army troops pounded the forest-covered Khamrang, Santoi and Mantoi areas along the Afghan border. They said that army troops fired artillery shells from Zari Noor brigade headquarters throughout the day. No casualty has been reported so far.
The clashes erupted in the troubled region after militants fired mortar shells and rockets at the army brigade headquarters on Friday. Director-General of Inter Services Public Relations Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan told Dawn by phone from Islamabad that some 'miscreants' hiding in north of Shakai fired rockets on security forces in the area.
"Our forces are responding to unprovoked attacks intermittently," the ISPR chief said. He added that there was no casualty on the army side. He said that the government was using both military and political options to handle the situation in South Waziristan.
He said that the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal had already supported the government point of view regarding Wana. The region was relatively quiet after army troops entered the rugged Shakai area last month and destroyed hideouts of suspected foreign militants and their tribal supporters.
Officials said that after eliminating militants from Shakai, considered one of the possible hideouts of the suspects, had now moved to the forest-covered areas of South Waziristan.
The situation took an ugly turn in the region after two wanted militants, Maulvi Abbas and Mohammad Javid, refused to surrender to the government on Thursday following which the government warned that it could reimpose economic sanctions against the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe.
In a related development, the administration has given another three-day deadline to thousands of Afghan refugees to leave the area. The government said it would not be responsible for any mishap afterwards. The administration served fresh notices on the refugees in the area to vacate their houses.
In June, the authorities had given a 72-hour notice to the refugees to leave the agency. Around 42,000 Afghans are living in different parts of South Waziristan for the last three decades.
Some refugees told Dawn that they were willing to leave the area provided the authorities allowed them to open their shops and other businesses in the Wana bazaar, so that they could shift the merchandise to their country.
Many Afghans are going back to their country without getting relief assistance due to the absence of UN refugee agency staff in the area.
DPA ADDS: "There is no new operation but the political process and search for local and foreign militants will continue unabated," Sultan said. "Our objective is that foreign militants surrender unconditionally and local people should stop helping them". Sultan was unable to say how many foreign suspect terrorists were hiding in the area.