‘9 Pak Army Personnel Held Hostage’: Taliban Attacks Military, Many Killed, Say Sources | Exclusive

​The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Pakistan’s Taliban on Sunday held the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Bannu Cantonment Centre in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in restive northwest Pakistan under siege, killing several Pakistani military personnel and CTD members, according to local sources. At the time of publishing this report, the attack was going on and the number of casualties and deceased was unclear.

According to the local sources, six-seven TTP fighters came to the CTD station, freed their inmate fighters, who were brought in for interrogation, and took control of the building while taking 15-20 hostages. The TTP fighters are well equipped, said sources.

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TTP members inside the CTD headquarters issued a video message stating: “Subedar Major Khurshed Akram, along with 8 other personnel, have been taken as hostage.”

They have demanded safe passage to Afghanistan, said sources. The telephone lines to the centre have been disconnected.

TTP militants also distributed leaflets warning citizens to follow the Shariah and not rat out on the them.

ON DECEMBER 15

Cross-border clashes erupted between TTP fighters and Pakistani troops, sources told CNN-News18. Usage of mortars and machine guns from the TTP side has been confirmed, they added.

Many civilians, including children, were reported injured at the Chaman border crossing area after Taliban fighters attacked.

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The incident occurred at a time when the commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) was visiting the Pakistani military headquarters. He met with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir.

Chaman border areas are being evacuated by the local administration, said sources, adding that several locations on the Pakistani side have been hit by mortars fired by the Afghan Taliban so far.

CEASEFIRE OFF

The TTP said on November 28 that they have called off the ceasefire agreed upon with the government in June and ordered fighters to continue their jihad across the country.

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The TTP had been publicly raising funds inside mosques during the Friday prayers in Jalalabad city and districts in Ningarhar province, sources had told News18. “The funds are raised in the name of jihad against the Pakistani State and the Pakistan Army,” the source had said.

THE TTP

The TTP is a banned militant group based along the Afghan-Pakistan border. It has carried out a number of major attacks on Pakistani security personnel. After several rounds of talks, the Pakistan government and the TTP in June agreed to extend a ceasefire indefinitely, while continuing negotiations to end the nearly two decades of militancy.

The TTP was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Its main aim is to impose its strict brand of Islam across Pakistan. The group, which is believed to be close to al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on the Army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

ALSO READ | Pakistan Plans Military Op at Afghan Border in Wake of Embassy Attack in Kabul & Chaman Gunfire: Sources

Pakistan has been fencing the 2,600-km border with Afghanistan since 2017 to end terrorist infiltration and smuggling, despite intense opposition from the neighbouring country. Besides a fence, the project includes the construction of border posts and forts and raising of new wings of the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary force that guards the border.

When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan last year, Pakistan hoped that the new dispensation would deal with the terrorist groups.

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