Troops build up in Bannu

BANNU - After the failure of talks between the local administration and tribesmen on Tuesday, curfew was imposed in Bannu for indefinite period and the security forces started patrolling the area.
It is believed that the security forces would launch operation against Baka Khel and Jani Khel tribes after breakdown of Jirga talks between the administration and the tribesmen.
The government had appealed to Baka Khel and Jani Khel tribes to hand over the wanted militants to the administration and held Jirga talks for that purpose.
AFP adds: Locals and officials reported shelling Tuesday in Bannu areas which border Waziristan where the US alleges Al-Qaeda militants are holed up, although the army denied any new offensive.
Authorities imposed a curfew and troops entered the rural towns of Jani Khel and Baka Khel in Bannu District, which borders lawless North Waziristan, local administration official Muwaz Khan told AFP.
I can hear the artillery fire in the area as forces have started pounding militant hideouts, Khan said, adding that 'hundreds of troops had arrived in the two rural towns about 10 kilometres from the tribal regions.
Residents in Jani Khel said that troops fired up to 60 cannon shells. But chief military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas denied any fresh military offensive in the area. Security forces are currently locked in a six-week anti-Taliban push in three other northwest districts.
No, not yet, Abbas told AFP when asked if the military had started fresh operation against Taliban militants in the area.
Police, however, said they had Tuesday launched search operations in the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts and arrested 126 people.
(We) detained 126 people Tuesday on suspicion of involvement in targeted killings, bomb blasts and sectarian violence, Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said.
Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan lie in the North West Frontier Province, which unlike the ungoverned tribal areas of the country falls under direct government control.
Last week militants kidnapped hundreds of students of North Waziristan cadet college when they were travelling to Bannu for the summer holidays.
Monitoring Desk adds: Army and paramilitary forces have deployed troops in the semi-tribal area between the northern Bannu District and Waziristan.
We have imposed an indefinite curfew, local police in Bannu told the BBC.
Waziristan is controlled by Taliban militants and is said to be where Al-Qaeda leaders have found safe haven. The tribal region has been described by US officials as 'the most dangerous place on earth.
Police told the BBC that they had imposed the curfew in six of the 12 police station districts in Bannu. The six police stations all border the semi-tribal areas of Jani Khel and Baka Khel, as well as the North Waziristan tribal region, Mohammad Iqbal, head of police in Bannu said.
We fear that with the impending military operation in Jani Khel, the militants may escape towards Bannu. Iqbal added that all bus stops in Bannu had also been closed in an attempt to thwart any militant attacks.
Local authorities there have sealed also businesses and properties belonging to members of the Jani Khel and Baka Khel tribes.
The BBC said the Jani Khel tribal area has been long known as a hideout for militants.
Since 2008 it has been the target of several missile strikes in which dozens of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants have been killed.
The authorities say the tribes in the area have aided Taliban militants in their fight against security forces.
Hundreds of additional troops have arrived here, Abdul Razzaq, a local administration official in the Jani Khel area, told the BBC. The entire region has been sealed off from all sides.
Most of the locals have already left the area and gone to their relatives in Lakki Marwat and Bannu, he said.
Local officials said the military was waiting for the arrival of helicopter gunships before launching the operation.
Some of the remaining locals in the area told the BBC that the army operation in Jani Khel would have no effect on the militants as, they say, they fled the area two days ago when the authorities announced a general evacuation.
The armys move comes days after dozens of college students and teachers on their way to Bannu were kidnapped in North Waziristan.
The mass kidnapping took place in Jani Khel and is said to have been carried out by local Taliban militants loyal to Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) head Baitullah Mehsud. The kidnapped students have all been released.
The specific target of this operation is said to be Mehsud and his TTP organisation, BBC said.
Security sources earlier told the BBC that the operation in the Jani Khel and Baka Khel area is a prelude to a larger operation within the Waziristan tribal region.
There have also been reports that troops have been substantially increased in the town of Jandola which borders South Waziristan, Baitullah Mehsuds home base.
BBC adds that the plan appears to be to encircle Mehsud and destroy his organisation.