WANA, May 1: As many as 78 tribesmen, who had been detained for allegedly providing shelter to Taliban and Al Qaeda elements in the tribal territory, were released on Saturday.

Political agent Asmatullah Gandapur released the detained men without requiring them to furnish surety bonds. This raised the number of tribesmen released after the patch-up between the government and the wanted tribesmen on April 22 in Shakai near Wana to 144. The administration had released 50 tribesmen on April 24, followed by another batch of 16 on April 29.

The fresh release comes after a seven-day extension in deadline given by the government for the foreigners living in the agency to get themselves registered.

However, no foreign elements have so far turned up for registration or giving the government surety of their good conduct during their stay in the agency.

Secretary of Fata security Brig (retd) Mehmood Shah told Dawn on Saturday that no more tribesmen detained in connection with providing shelter to foreign elements would be released.

The released tribesmen were brought to the Wana bazaar in a big procession and the people gathered on this occasion garlanded them.

A schoolteacher, Fazal Karam Khan Zalikhel Wazir, who was among those released, told this correspondent that they were treated very badly during captivity by the scouts personnel. Maulana Abdul Malik, an MNA from tribal areas, said that negotiations for the registration of foreigners were in progress.