PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday issued a statement in which he strongly condemned the reported killing of 23 FC soldiers by a Taliban group in Mohmand Agency, who had been kidnapped in 2010.

In the statement, he said the barbaric act was against the teachings of Islam and must be condemned in the strongest terms.

Khan hoped the government and military would let the nation know the veracity or otherwise of this news.

The PTI chief also expressed concern over the fact that the FC men had been held prisoner since 2010 in an area that had ostensibly been cleared by the military.

Khan said the government at the time, the military and the present government, had all done nothing to secure the safe release of the soldiers who seemed to have been simply forgotten.

He said the nation should be told why this neglect had happened.

"Each Pakistani life is precious and our soldiers have embraced martyrdom for safeguarding the country and should never be abandoned like this," Khan added.

"Clearly this is also a direct sabotage of the peace talks in the most barbaric way possible," the PTI chief said.