MIRAMSHAH, Jan 15: Seventeen people were arrested in a search operation carried out by hundreds of troops and commandos in the Lowara Mandi area of North Waziristan on Saturday.

The Inter-Service Public Relations confirmed in a press release that 17 'miscreants' had been picked up in the operation. It did not disclose their identity. Official sources said that a cluster of mud-houses near the Afghanistan border were searched. Later, those arrested were airlifted to a military base in Bannu.

About 250 commandos of the elite Special Services Group backed by helicopter gun ships and regulars took part in the operation conducted about 70km west of Miramshah. A military source said that 10 helicopters, seven from Multan and three from Wana, took part in the operation.

Military authorities said the operation was planned following intelligence reports that some elements residing in the area were involved in the activities that had taken place across the border.

Witnesses said the security forces besieged the residential compound of a tribesman, Habib Khan Madakhel, near Afghanistan's Khost province at about 7am. The security forces cordoned off the area and launched a house-to-house search, picking up at least 17 persons from the residence of Habib Madakhel, a source said.

ISPR director-general Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, when contacted, said the operation had been carried out in the area where some 'miscreants' were hiding. There were no skirmishes and the operation was over, he said, adding that the detained persons were being interrogated to ascertain their nationality.

According to another source, the detained persons were handed over to a joint interrogation team. Locals said that helicopter gun ships buzzed en route to the border town throughout the day.