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MIRAMSHAH/TANK, Aug 25: Militants kidnapped four security personnel and an official of the political administration in South Waziristan on Friday night.
In North Waziristan and Bannu, four people were killed and three others injured in a military operation on Saturday.
The kidnapped included Bajaur Scouts commander Shahid Kiani, naib tehsildar Hameedullah and subedar Younus. The names of two other security men could not be ascertained. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
Inter-Services Public Relations director-general Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad confirmed that the security personnel and the political administration official were ‘missing’ since Friday night.
Officials said a 21-member tribal jirga, headed by MNA Maulvi Mirajauddin from South Waziristan, met elders of the Mahsud tribe in Laddah on Saturday to secure release of the paramilitary soldiers.
Officials told Dawn in Peshawar that the jirga had brokered a temporary truce till 2pm on Sunday. They said the jirga members would meet South Waziristan’s political agent Hussainzada Khan in Tank on Sunday to brief him about their talks with the elders of the Mahsud tribe.
Sources said the government had asked the Mahsud tribesmen to ensure security of the main road passing through their area, from where 20 soldiers and the naib tehsildar have been kidnapped since Aug 9.
A well-placed official said the government had made ‘ample progress in securing the release of the missing soldiers’. He said the administration would not rush into striking a deal with the militants and they wanted everything in “black and white”.
However, other official sources said the kidnappers had conditioned the release of the 15 scouts kidnapped on Aug 9 with the release of their 10 colleagues presently under detention. Moreover, they said, the kidnappers had also demanded a ransom of Rs1 million each for the 15 scouts.
MILITARY REINFORCEMENTS: Sources said the military on Saturday moved reinforcements from Bannu to consolidate its positions in North Waziristan.
Eyewitnesses said combat helicopters providing cover to a military convoy heading towards Miramshah fired on a passenger van suspecting it to be of militants.
“The forces fired on vehicles, in different areas, when they approached to attack the military convoy,” Maj-Gen Arshad said.
He expressed ignorance about the casualties in the military action. He denied that the helicopters had been used against ‘suspected militants’.
According to eyewitnesses, the helicopters hovering over the convoy started indiscriminate fire in the Bakakhel area of the Frontier Region of Bannu and targeted a coach, killing one passenger and injuring another. Another person working in a meadow also died.
Eyewitnesses said when the convoy reached the Mirali tehsil in North Waziristan, the helicopters fired on vehicles parked near a restaurant, killing two people and injuring one. Two trucks and a passenger van were damaged.
Sources said the helicopters fired several shots on suspected ‘miscreants’ in the Maachis checkpost area near the Miramshah town. A passerby was injured in the firing.
Meanwhile, one person was killed and another injured when militants exchanged fire with local people in the Frontier Region of Jandola near Tank, sources said.
They said the militants had kidnapped a passenger coach driver, Khuna Jan, from Jandola, whose relatives assembled in front of an office of the militants in the town and demanded to free him. When the militants refused to free the man, his brother fired on the office and the militants retaliated.
The man killed in the exchange of fire was identified as Ibrahim Khan.
Our Staff Correspondent Zulfiqar Ali from Peshawar and Our Correspondent Alamgir Bhittani from Tank contributed to this report
