208 பாகிஸ்தான் வீரர்களை இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகள் சிறைப்பிடித்தனர்

தெற்கு வாஜிரிஸ்தானில் 208 பாகிஸ்தான் போர்வீரர்களை இஸ்லாமிய பயங்கரவாதிகள் சிறைப்பிடித்துள்ளனர் என்று பாகிஸ்தான் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.


208 Pak soldiers captured by South Waziristan militants
Malaysia Sun
Saturday 1st September, 2007
(ANI)


Peshawar, Sep 1 : Militant commander Baitullah Mahsud has reportedly taken nearly 208 soldiers of the Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps (FC) hostage in South Waziristan Agency, credible sources have said.

Militants have kidnapped 208 security personnel, including 75 belonging to FC, when their convoy comprising 16 vehicles reached the Shawangi area, about 40 kilometres north of WANA, sources said.

Among the kidnapped security personnel, 10 are said to be senior officers including a colonel, a major, two captains and eight other junior rank officers.

The militants, according to sources, first besieged the convoy, which was on its way from Shakai to Ladha subdivision, and then disarmed all the soldiers.

Sources said the troops were divided into groups of 30 each by the militants and shifted to undisclosed hideouts.

The Pakistan Government till Friday repeatedly denied that the soldiers had been taken hostage, but people close to the militants confirmed that the militants have seized 208 security personnel.

Sensing the seriousness of the issue, the government hastily took a 50-member Jirga comprising prominent tribal elders and Ulema from all the three subsections of the Mahsud tribe and people from the 21-member peace committee to the militants to persuade them to release the kidnapped soldiers.

The militants claimed that they had been promised complete withdrawal of security forces from Ladha and other areas inhabited by the Mahsud tribesmen after recent talks between them and the 21-member peace committee and Mahsud tribal grand Jirga under which they had released the 19 kidnapped FC personnel.

"Instead of withdrawal, the government wanted to deploy more troops in the area for likely action against them (militants)," said the sources while quoting tribal militants as saying.

They said the militants admitted to have kidnapped all the 208 security personnel and shifted them to their hideouts.

However, military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad denied that the troops were either missing or kidnapped.

He said that fighting was going on between two rival militant groups over the peace accord with the government when the military convoy reached there.

"Since the troops did not want to get involved in their internal fighting, therefore, they decided to set up a camp there and wait till the situation becomes normal," said Mahor General Arshad.

He also said that the troops' movement in the area had created a misunderstanding among the local people who thought that the forces had been called for launching an operation.