LAHORE, Pakistan, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Pakistani police officials in Punjab said the militancy in North-West Frontier province was isolated as military officials prepare a major operation.
The Pakistani Taliban in recent statements vowed to exact revenge for the August assassination of their leader, Baitullah Mehsud. A series of high-profile attacks, including a weekend raid on an army headquarters and a Monday suicide operation near the volatile Swat Valley, are thought to be the work of the Pakistani Taliban.
Police officials in Punjab, a province to the east of the volatile tribal belt, denied allegations the Taliban had established training centers in their area, adding they were ready to capture militants fleeing the border regions.
They acknowledged, however, the presence of a splinter group operating in south Punjab but said the accounts were isolated to no more than 30 individuals.
Arif Ikram, a local police officer, told Pakistan's Dawn newspaper that while there was "massive bloodshed" in North-West Frontier province, "there is no such situation" in Punjab.
Other police officials in Punjab said the only militancy they uncovered in the region was related to insurgents fleeing Waziristan in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.
