LADDHA/KOHAT, Sept 20: Sixteen militants, including Afghan and Punajbi Taliban, were arrested during a search operation in Wacha Khur area of South Waziristan Agency on Tuesday morning.

Sources said that the search operation, supervised by Col Yasin and Political Agenct Javed Marwat, started at 5am and continued till 10:30am.

They said that ground forces backed by two helicopter gunships and tanks took part in the operation.

Two houses of suspected militants were demolished during the operation, sources said. They said that arrested militants included three Punjabi Taliban, five Mehsuds and eight Afghans.

The security forces also seized two trucks loaded with explosive and weapons. The political agent said that the seized explosives and weapons were meant for smuggling to Balochistan and Sindh for sabotage activities.

The action was taken on the information of secret agencies, he added.

The arrested militants were shifted to Zari Noor Fort for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, unidentified armed persons shot dead an alleged militant in Garhi Sarmai area of Darra Adamkhel on Tuesday, sources said.

They said that Jamshed was targeted by assailants in the local bazaar of Akhorwal area of Frontier Region of Kohat. He died instantly and was buried in his ancestral graveyard.

Officials blamed the local peace lashkar for the murder of Jamshed, who had left Tariq Afridi group of Taliban sometime back. However, local sources alleged that members of Tariq Afridi group were involved in killings of deserters as they wanted to keep their band intact and create fear among people.

Tariq Afridi is chief of Khyber Agency and Darra Adamkhel of Hakeemullah Mehsud faction of Taliban.