World Bulletin/News Desk

A curfew imposed by North Waziristan security forces on Friday continues for a second day on Saturday with a clear-cut warning that violators will be shot at sight.

The curfew follows the explosion of a roadside bomb in North Waziristan, which killed nine Pakistani soldiers and injured several others a couple of days ago. The attack occurred amid Pakistani peace negotiations with militants.

Security forces launched a search operation in parts of Miramshah, the capital of North Waziristan, and Ghulam Khan town, located on the Pakistan and Afganistan border. Security forces arrested 60 suspects, a senior security official  - who did not want to be named - told the Anadolu Agency (AA).

Thousands of Waziristan students have to bear the brunt of the curfew, as authorities have postponed the annual exams due to the ongoing curfew imposed for an “indefinite period”.

Ihsan Dawar, a local journalist told AA the curfew had caused hardship to the residents as the supplies of essential commodities from nearby Bannu district, and other parts of the country had been suspended, causing food shortage in the region.

Bans on all kind of transport has also caused problems for patients, including those needing immediate treatment, Dawar said.

Azam Tariq, a spokesman of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan  (TTP), a consortium of different insurgent groups in Pakistan, and the prime target of army operations, told reporters that the army had been engaged in operation against Taliban for last nine days in North and South Waziristan.

North Waziristan is one of the seven semi autonomous tribal areas in Pakistan, and a bastion of powerful Haqqani network, the TTP and two rival Taliban groups.

Fazlullah sacks top commander

Meanwhile, Reuters report that the head of the Pakistani Taliban ordered a top commander sacked, quoting Taliban sources on Saturday.

Taliban head Maulana Fazlullah moved against Khan "Sajna" Said on Friday after weeks of infighting in the powerful Mehsud tribe that supplies the bulk of the Pakistani Taliban fighters, they said. Scores of men have been killed.

Fazlullah has repeatedly appealed in vain to the two Mehsud rivals to stop fighting. An earlier peace deal brokered by the powerful Haqqani network of fighters fell through, undercutting the militants' ability to mount attacks against security forces.

The Taliban sources said Fazlullah turned to an influential hardline commander, Khalid Omar Khorasani, to appoint a new commander in place of Said, who wants to join the peace talks.

Taliban commanders said Khorasani had been chosen to appoint a successor not just because of his hardline reputation, but because of his ability to unite various factions.

"All militant leaders respect him for his sacrifices in organising all the militant factions and that's why Fazlullah gave him this difficult task," a Taliban commander said.