WHILE the operation in Malkand Agency continues unabated, another has been launched in Bannu's Frontier Region. The reason given is the failure on the part of the Janikhel and Bakakhel tribes to hand over militants involved in the kidnapping of the Razmak Cadet College students last week. The action is in accordance with the British-era FCR which clamps collective responsibility on a tribe for illegalities committed in its area. It is now being maintained by the ISPR that the Janikhel area is in fact a staging post for all the militants operating in Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat and Peshawar, with the implication that those who attacked Peshawar's Pearl Continental Hotel might perhaps also have used the route and been facilitated by contacts in Janikhel. With the resentment against the terrorist attacks mounting inside the country, many would readily support whatever measures are taken by the government to put an end to them. There is, however, a need for extreme caution and care while undertaking a new military operation against a tribe. An entire population - men, women and children - must not be victimised for the misdeeds of a handful of criminals. This is not only unjust, but also harmful for national integrity as this turns the affected population, which thinks it is being unfairly made to suffer, against those conducting the operation. This is precisely what the militants crave for. Artillery shelling started on Tuesday was followed by attacks by helicopter gunships and jet bombers in accordance with the recognised tactics of the conventional war. There were reports on Thursday of 70 to 80 suspected militants having been killed. As the weapons employed are not programmed to differentiate between the militants and peaceful tribesmen, or calculate the casualties, it is hard to precisely determine how many were killed and if all were militants. As ground troops move into the Bannu Frontier Region, we are told of 500 to 600 militants rushing in from the Agency areas to stop their advance, indicating that the operation might get prolonged. There are reports of large-scale migrations from the Bakakhel and Janikhel areas, some moving to the adjoining Agency, others to a relief camp set up by the government which has disallowed the tribesmen from staying with relatives or in rented houses, presumably for security reasons. A report tells of some of the affected people having crossed over to Afghanistan, where an administration ever-ready to fish in troubled waters has welcomed them with open arms. What the government has on its hands is yet another big displacement of population. Coping with the IDPs from Dir, Swat, and Buner was already a challenging task. One hopes the government had thoroughly discussed the pros and cons of the fresh offensive before giving a go-ahead.