QUETTA: Elders belonging to different tribes pledgedhere on Friday not to provide shelter and refuge to militants in their areas.

A number of militants have fled North Waziristan and other regions in Federally Administered Tribal Areas after the launch there of Operation Zarb-i-Azb against terrorists and have been seen seeking refuge in Pashtoon-speaking localities of Balochistan near the border with Afghanistan.

The tribalelders extended this assurance at a lunch hosted in their honour by Commander Southern Command, Lt Gen Muhammad Naseer Khan Janjua.

Nawab Ayaz Khan Jogezai led the delegation at the meeting.

The tribal elders discussed the situation prevailing in the country and its possible impact on Balochistan`s Pushtoon-speakingareas bordering Khyber Pukhtoonkhawa and Afghanistan in view of the military operation. Measures for maintaining law and order and development work in the area also came under discussion.

The tribal elders announced that they would extend all help and cooperation to the security forces, including Army, Frontier Corps and other forces for maintaining law and order in their respective areas and pledged not to allow any outsider to enter or take refuge in their area.

Lt Gen Janjua, while speaking on the occasion, said that if all got united and moved jointly on the path of peace, Balochistan could become an exemplary province.

He urged the tribal elders to keep close coordination and relations with the Frontier Corps, police and other forces deployed in their areas.

Lt Gen Janjua thanked all tribal elders for accepting his invitation to the meeting.