Security forces arrested nine suspected militants and defused two explosive devices in the tribal belt in northwest Pakistan today, authorities said.
The nine suspected militants were apprehended from different areas, a spokesman for the Frontier Corps said.
Troops defused an improvised explosive device at Yousaf Talab area of Khyber Agency, he said.
In a separate incident, a bomb attached to a tanker ferrying oil to NATO forces in Afghanistan was defused on a strategic highway in Khyber Agency, officials said.
The explosive device planted on the tanker, which was carrying thousands of litres of fuel, was spotted by Khasadar militia personnel.
Local officials called in a bomb disposal squad that defused the bomb.
Meanwhile, security forces searched and cleared five caves used by militants as hideouts in Bajaur Agency.
A cache of arms and ammunition was seized during the search, officials said.