By IRNA,
Islamabad : Pakistani security forces Tuesday conducted a search of the abandoned religious seminary of a top Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani in the country’s tribal region but found no person in the building, a security official said.
The 2-hour search was conducted after reports that the militants have taken shelter in the building in North Waziristan near the Afghan border, but the whole ‘madrassa’ building was empty, the official said.
The seminary is located at the area of Dandey Darpa Khel, some three kilometers from Miranshah, the center of North Waziristan.
The army and local militia forces searched the seminary building and its housing complex.
Army helicopters were also conducting flights over the ‘madrassa’ as the troops combed the abandoned building.
The seminary was abandoned by the students four years ago after the security forces launched a major operation against al-Qaeda remnants and Taliban in Waziristan.
Jalaluddin Haqqani, a prominent commander during the 10-year Jehad against the erstwhile Soviet Union, also served a minister in the Taliban government in 1996-2001.
Hundreds of students, most Afghans, had been studying in Haqqani’s ‘madrassa’ which was also considered as a major center for Taliban fighters.
There is no information about the whereabouts of Haqqani for few years and he released a video cassette earlier this year, asking the Taliban to continue struggle against the foreign forces in Afghanistan.