Local Taliban militants said on Sunday they had abducted scores of soldiers, demanding the withdrawal of troops from tribal areas in exchange for their release. The military has insisted that some 150 soldiers were stranded after straying into Ladha in South Waziristan in stormy weather on Thursday. “Our colleagues have captured them and put them in jails,” Zulfiqar Mehsud, a spokesman for the militants, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. He said the fighters had “surrounded the soldiers and forced them to surrender” their weapons.| Sounds like they were crack troops, by gum! |
| Weren't quite surrounded 'Saoodi style', were they ... |
Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad reiterated that the soldiers had not been kidnapped, but were “trapped” amid a dispute between the militants and local tribesmen. “We have not received any demand from them,” he told AFP. He said a jirga was holding talks with local tribesmen to secure safe passage for the soldiers. Gen Arshad told Daily Times that the soldiers were not missing or held hostage but were “staying” with the Mehsud tribe.
An intelligence official in the region told AP that militants abducted 205 troops - 135 army soldiers, 70 paramilitary troops - and seized 20 military vehicles. Militants on Sunday distributed pamphlets in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, warning local tribes not to side with government forces “killing innocent men, women and children” in the region. “Like in Afghanistan, we have established suicide squads for attacks on troops and their allies in Pakistan,” a group calling itself the Mujahideen of Waziristan said in the statement.
Staff Report adds: Mohmand Agency political authorities on Sunday formed two jirgas for the safe recovery of the 10 FC personnel kidnapped on Saturday. A 120-member Mohmand jirga met Mohmand Political Agent Dr Kazim Niaz late on Sunday. The political agent gave the jirga a 12:00pm Monday deadline for the FC men’s release. Militants also distributed pamphlets in Bara Bazaar in Khyber Agency saying the “Taliban have finally reached Bara”, and warning that “if anyone tries to hinder our movement and activities, we will launch a holy war against them”.
Meanwhile, one man was killed and 14 injured when a bomb went off in a pharmacy at Mirza Alma Market in Wana Bazaar on Sunday, destroying Aurangzeb Medical Store and damaging several other shops. Eight of the wounded are said to be in serious condition. The bomb was apparently an attempt to kill pro-government tribal leader Mita Khan, who was seriously hurt in the blast, an intelligence official told AP.
Militants occupied two Khasadar check-posts in the Qandharo and Halimzai areas of Mohmand Agency and snatched weapons from officials manning the post. An FC man was killed and another injured during an exchange of fire between rival groups near the Nahaqi check-post.