PTI
WANA: Continuing their massive offensive against Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters believed to be protecting Osama Bin Laden's deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Pakistani troops arrested 100 suspects, including foreigners, from tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, the military said on Saturday.
The arrested men included Uzbeks, Arabs, Chechans and locals, Corps Commander Peshawar Lt General Safdar Hussain told reporters at Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, some 300 kilometers South of here.
Hussain said Russian-made arms have been recovered from those arrested in operation. Explosives and other equipment being used for suicide bomb attacks have also been recovered, he added.
Some 400 to 500 "miscreants and foreign militants" are showing stiff resistance at Palwasha and Shin Warsa areas, he said, adding the operation has been expanded to 60 square km from 50 km.
"These people have been here for a long, long time. They are extremely professional fighters," Hussain said. "They have tremendous patience before they open fire."
While not ruling out the possibility of Al-Zawahiri's presence in the area, he said the military intercepted a wireless message in Uzbek and Chechan language, in which a message about the injury of a colleague was being passed.
He said the injured suspect could likely be Uzbek Nek Muhammad or Chechan Commander Daud.
Hussain said the suspects tried to flee to Afghanistan in five vehicles but firing by the Pakistani helicopter gunship Cobra foiled their attempt and destroyed their vehicles.
"Complete sealing of the border is impossible," the Corps Commander said, adding that there are 240 escaping points to Afghanistan.
He said three foreign suspects were killed on Friday, adding that a local Yar Gul tribe is assisting the militants. He asserted the tribe would be given harsh punishment.
Pakistani forces on Saturday resumed heavy artillery bombardment of an area where they say more than 400 armed militants are believed to be holed up. The militants responded with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
Cobra gunship helicopters have assisted ground troops in the offensive, now entering its fifth day.
A military spokesman said they have identified seven pockets of resistance in South waziristan, now completely surrounded by Pakistani troops.
The troops are gradually closing in, and they hoped to overrun the pockets of resistance within a few days, he said.
At least 15 soldiers died on the first day of the operation on Tuesday. Twenty four militants, believed to be local tribesmen or Al-Qaeda suspects, were also killed.
The Pakistani operation is being described as the biggest since the hunt for Bin Laden and his associates started in the area more than two years ago.