Troops on Thursday blocked the main road, leading to South Waziristan on Afghan border, following a confrontation with al Qaeda-linked elements, a security official said. Residents said tension was running high because of the blockade, which came as the new government was pursuing negotiations in an effort to end violence in the area.
The blockade of the road came after Baitullah Mehsud's loyalists set up checkposts on the road to exert control over the region. "The road is blocked to put pressure on the Mehsud's loyalists to remove the checkposts," said an intelligence official based in the area.
Hundreds of trucks and cars were backed up along the road from the town of Tank in North-West Frontier Province, residents said. The new coalition government is trying to negotiate peace through elders of the Pashtun tribes in the region.
TALKS BREAK DOWN Mehsud announced a cease-fire last month but his men later said they were rejecting negotiations, mediated by tribal elders after the government refused to withdraw troops from their areas.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber blew himself near a police checkpost in Bannu, killing three people in the first such attack since the talks broke down. Tribal elders in Waziristan said the authorities had asked them to re-establish contacts with Mehsud to revive the talks. On Wednesday night, militants attacked a police station in the Swat Valley, killing a policeman and wounding one.
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