PESHAWAR: In a chilling admission on Sunday night, a militant outfit identifying itself as Mohmand Agency Taliban claimed to have killed 23 FC soldiers they had kidnapped from Shongari checkpost in the tribal region in 2010.

In a letter posted on the social media, Mohmand Agency Taliban chief Umar Khalid Khurasani said the FC soldiers had been slain to avenge what he called the custodial killing of their 'fighters’ in various parts of Pakistan.

The letter in Urdu says that the Taliban had warned the government against custodial killings of their men but the government allegedly continued to kill them. Therefore, it said, they had killed the 23 FC soldiers who had been kidnapped from Shongari area of Mohmand Agency in 2010. They also uploaded a video on the social media.

The claim, however, could not be confirmed from any independent sources.

There was no verification of the news from the political administration or the FC authorities.

The Taliban letter and the video further claimed that the release of the Taliban prisoners was one of the main demands of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan for agreeing to hold peace talks with the government.

Analysts say the Mohmand Agency Taliban has not been in favour of dialogue with the government. — The reporter is bureau chief, DawnNews, Peshawar

Opinion

Editorial

More desecration
Updated 27 Sep, 2023

More desecration

Attacks on the Islamic faith are not motivated by an attachment to free speech but by raw hatred.
Worrying remarks
27 Sep, 2023

Worrying remarks

THESE are ominous words from Gwadar. Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, chairman of the Gwadar Haq Do Tehreek, has warned ...
Justice or vendetta?
Updated 27 Sep, 2023

Justice or vendetta?

ONE wonders whether all pretence of the state as a democracy has been whittled down to a point where it has simply...
Free and fair?
Updated 26 Sep, 2023

Free and fair?

It is disingenuous to suggest the fairness of any polling exercise should be considered without regard to all that has preceded it.
Unto darkness
26 Sep, 2023

Unto darkness

YET another case of medical malpractice has come to light in Punjab. The eyesight of several diabetic patients has...
Unions on campus
26 Sep, 2023

Unions on campus

DEPOLITICISED youth unfamiliar with democratic norms cannot be good for the future of representative rule in...