July 20, 2008	Sunday	Rajab 16, 1429

KOHAT, July 19: Taliban militants have renewed their threat to kill all 29 hostages one by one after the expiry of the five-day deadline given to the provincial government to withdraw military from Hangu, a spokesman for Taliban, Maulvi Haider, said on Saturday.

Talking to Dawn, the spokesman said that the 29 officials kidnapped by the militants before the military operation in Hangu were at a “safe place” and as soon as they received orders from central leadership, they would start killing them one by one.

He ruled out any chance of the kidnapped officials’ release if the provincial government failed to meet demands of Taliban.

He refuted an ISPR claim that security forces had killed 10 Taliban during a five-day operation in Hangu, saying the Taliban had destroyed four army vehicles and killed more than 30 personnel of security forces.

Meanwhile, security forces secured Shams ud Din Banda, Tora Warai and Tora Ghundi areas without any resistance on Saturday. They destroyed an empty house in Tora Warai being used by militants for attacking security forces.

A grand jirga of 17 tribes of Orakzai Agency, held on Friday night, assured the government of full support in case the Taliban militants used their land against security forces. They also promised not to provide shelter to foreigners and fight them if they tried to disturb the law and order situation in the area.

The jirga, presided over by Orakzai Agency Political Agent Kamran Zeb, decided that if the tribesmen provided shelter to Taliban, they would be punished under Section 40 of the Frontier Crime Regulation (FCR) for activities against the government and the army would be sent there to restore writ of the government.Western parts of Hangu and Sadda tehsil of Kurram Agency are still not safe from activities of Taliban militants. They have built big forts in Bulandkhel and Spinwam areas where they train suicide bombers and make suicide bombing vests.

They are also involved in attacking military convoys and kidnapping people for ransom on the main Thall-Parachinar highway. There are reports of presence of a large number of militants and extremists from banned religious outfits from all over the country in the area. Talking to Dawn, some officials said that the provincial government should consider extending the operation to Thall as without securing these areas, the government would not be able to restore peace in the region.