PAKISTAN: Pakistani’s Special Forces raided a counterterrorism police center in the northwestern city of Bannu on December 20, killing all Pakistani Taliban militants who had taken hostages inside the compound, officials said.
Bannu is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the restive northwestern Pakistani province that shares a border with Afghanistan.
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told the Pakistani parliament on December 20 that 33 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants who had been detained at the center in Bannu took over the compound, taking several hostages, after one militant managed to snatch a guard’s gun.
Asif said a unit of the army’s Special Service Group (SSG) stormed the compound following more than 40 hours of eventually failed negotiations with the hostage takers.
All militants were killed in the operation, while two commandos also lost their lives and 15 others were wounded, he said.
It was not immediately clear how many hostages had been released. RFE/RL sources said all hostages were Police officers and three of them had been wounded during the operation.
The militants had reportedly demanded safe passage to Afghanistan in exchange for releasing the hostages.
– RADIO FREE EUROPE
