Militants from Baituallah Mehsud group have taken positions on hilltops over a 20-km strip between Sarwaki tehsil and Madi Jan overlooking main Wana-Dera Ismail Khan highway, security sources said on Friday. The move came three days after Taliban militant leader Abdullah Mehsud died in Zhob district of Balochistan province on Tuesday. The militants have taken the positions to cut supply lines of the military on the Wana-Tank road if security forces launch an operation in North Waziristan, according to sources.
A Mehsud jirga returned from Wana without meeting South Waziristan Political Agent Hussainzada Khan, and MMA MNA Maulana Mirajuddin criticised the officialÂ’s behaviour. Khan, however, told reporters that he was waiting for the jirga but they went back. |