150 Pakistani soldiers kidnapped by Pakistani Taliban

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150 soldiers go missing in South Waziristan

Mushtaq Yusufzai & Sailab Mahsud

PESHAWAR/TANK: After releasing the 19 paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers on Tuesday on the request of 21-member peace committee, the tribal militants in South Waziristan Agency Thursday allegedly kidnapped around 150 Pakistan Army personnel and shifted them to their hideouts in the mountains.

Some reports, however, suggested that tribal militants laid siege to two Pakistan Army convoys which were on their way from Wana and Shakai to Ladha subdivision. When the convoys reached Shawangi Narray, 40 kilometres north of Wana, South Waziristan’s regional headquarters, the militants accused them of violating the Sara Rogha peace accord, signed between the government and local Taliban on February 9, 2005 under which, according to tribal militants, security forces were have to withdraw from the areas inhabited by the Mahsud tribesmen.

Reliable sources told The News that the well-armed tribal militants cordoned off the two Pakistan Army convoys when they reached Shawangi Narray area in the afternoon on Thursday.

They said both the convoys comprised 16 vehicles in which around 150 soldiers including

four captains and six junior officers were travelling. Tribal sources from Wana informed The News that the soldiers were now disembarked from their vehicles and were kidnapped by the militants. Also, they said the kidnapped soldiers were divided into various groups and were shifted to different hideouts by the militants. Tribal sources while quoting tribal militants said the militants accused the government of violating the Sara Rogha peace accord by deploying Pakistan Army troops in Ladha.

The militants claimed that under the agreement the government had promised it would not deploy troops at Nawaz Kot in Makeen, Ghat Sar in Khaisoor and Sheen Sar in Barwand. It may be recalled here that the militants on Tuesday released 19 FC personnel on the request of 21-member peace committee and Mahsud tribesmen grand jirga when, according to the peace committee members, the government and militants agreed to act upon the Sara Rogha peace accord.

AFP adds: Army soldiers missing and fear kidnapped by militants have been found safe, a military spokesman said Thursday. A convoy transporting the soldiers in rugged South Waziristan district was sheltering from bad weather in a valley, the spokesman told AFP.

“We hope they will return to their camp tomorrow morning, there is no suggestion of kidnapping or fighting,” Major General Waheed Arshad said. Our Peshawar correspondent adds: There was no truth in such reports, the DG ISPR told The News on phone. “Sometimes soldiers cannot reach their destination in time due to either bad weather or other reasons,” he explained.

150 soldiers go missing in South Waziristan

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Missing Pakistan troops 'found'

About 100 Pakistani soldiers who were missing and feared captured by pro-Taleban militants have been found, the army says.

The militants had claimed they had seized 300 men in south Waziristan.
But the military said the soldiers in the convoy which had lost contact were sheltering in a valley during a storm and would return to base on Friday.
"There is no suggestion of kidnapping or fighting," Major General Waheed Arshad told the AFP news agency.
A Muslim militant group had said it had taken the troops because the government was not honouring a recent peace deal.
There has been rising violence in the region in recent months, with at least 60 soldiers and 250 militants killed.
Several peace deals between the government and rebels have collapsed.
US officials have described the tribal areas near the Afghan border as an al-Qaeda safe haven.
Earlier in the week 18 soldiers were freed by militants following a deal brokered by tribal chiefs. Violence has soared in the region since troops were sent into Islamabad's Red Mosque to flush out Islamists in July. More than 100 people died in the operation.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Missing Pakistan troops 'found'

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Pakistani soldiers 'to be released'

At least 120 Pakistani soldiers seized by tribal fighters near the Afghan border are to released soon, an official has said.

The fighters, who say they are holding 300 soldiers who were captured on Thursday while travelling in a convoy in the province of South Waziristan, have denied agreeing a deal to release them.


A Pakistani intelligence official said an agreement had been reached with the help of tribal elders: "The missing soldiers have been traced and they are safe and would return to their base soon," he said.

The soldiers had been travelling to the town of Ladha from the provincial capital Wana.


The 16-vehicle convoy had been guarding lorries delivering food.

Intelligence officials in South Waziristan said the fighters had taken the soldiers to different hideouts in the mountains.

A fighters' leader told the Associated Press news agency: "About 300 soldiers were present in our areas. We captured them, snatched their weapons and later shifted them to different places."

"We have taken no decision to free the soldiers," he said.

Increasing violence

Fighters in South Waziristan released 18 paramilitary troops and one civilian official this week after holding most of them for nearly three weeks.

They had earlier killed one of the soldiers.

Many al-Qaeda and Taliban supporters took refuge on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border after US forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001.

Violence in Pakistan, mainly in Waziristan and other parts of the northwest, has escalated since the collapse of a peace deal with tribal fighters and an army crackdown on a radical mosque in Islamabad last month.

In the latest incident, fighters attacked a police post with rocket-propelled grenades in the Swat region of North West Frontier Province, killing two policemen and wounding six, the region's police chief said.

In another incident in the same region, a passerby was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb blew up near a police vehicle.

The vehicle was damaged but the policemen were not hurt, said Mohammad Iqbal.

Al Jazeera English - News - Pakistani Soldiers 'To Be Released'

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S.Waziristan: Over 100 security men still couldn’t be retrieved

WANA: Over 100 security men on way to Ladha from the headquarters of South Waziristan here still could not be retrieved, while the local Taliban owning the responsibility of having abducted these government men, demanded swapping them with the release of their 10 associates.

Sources told that the 15-member Jirga, constituting of tribal sardars and ulema, which had set off yesterday from Tank, reaching South Waziristan, has entered into talks with the Taliban.

On the other hand, Baitullah Mehsud’s spokesman, Zulfiqar Mehsud owning the responsibility told that these security men were kidnapped in reaction to the government’s violation of the peace agreement at Sara Rogha area. The local Taliban have demanded the swapping of these security men for the release of their 10 associates including the 6 suicide attackers arrested from Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and other areas.

It may be recalled that over 100 security men on way to Ladha from Wana and Shakai had gone missing two days ago.

S.Waziristan: Over 100 security men still couldn’t be retrieved

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Over 200 soldiers in captivity of militants

Colonel, nine other officers among hostages
By Mushtaq Yusufzai &

Sailab Mahsud

PESHAWAR/TANK: Some 208 soldiers of the Pakistan Army and the Frontier Corps are in the custody of tribal militants led by their commander Baitullah Mahsud in South Waziristan Agency, credible sources told The News on Friday.

Despite repeated denials by the government till Friday that the soldiers had been taken hostage, people close to the militants confirmed to The News that the militants had seized 208 security personnel.

The government on Friday sent a 50-member Jirga comprising prominent tribal elders and Ulema from all the three subsections of the Mahsud tribe and people from the 21-member peace committee to the militants to persuade them to release the kidnapped security personnel without any condition.

The militants claimed they had been promised complete withdrawal of security forces from Ladha and other areas inhabited by the Mahsud tribesmen after recent talks between them and the 21-member peace committee and Mahsud tribal grand Jirga under which they had released the 19 kidnapped FC personnel.

“Instead of withdrawal, the government wanted to deploy more troops in the area for likely action against them (militants),” said the sources while quoting tribal militants as saying. They said the militants admitted to have kidnapped all the 208 security personnel and shifted them to their hideouts.

However, military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad, when approached by The News on phone, denied that the troops were either missing or kidnapped. He said there was fighting going on between two rival militant groups over the peace accord with the government when the military convoy reached there.

“Since the troops did not want to get involved in their internal fighting, therefore, they decided to set up a camp there and wait till the situation becomes normal,” said the spokesman. Also, he said the troops’ movement had created a misunderstanding among the local people who thought that the forces had been called for launching an operation in the area.

Sources told The News from Wana, South Waziristan’s regional headquarters, that the tribal militants had kidnapped 208 security personnel, 75 of them from the FC and the remaining from the Pakistan Army when their convoy comprising 16 vehicles reached Shawangi area, about 40 kilometres north of Wana on Thursday afternoon.

Among the kidnapped security personnel, 10 are said to be senior officers including a colonel, a major, two captains and eight other junior rank officers. The militants, according to sources, first besieged the convoy, which was on its way from Shakai to Ladha subdivision, and then disarmed all the soldiers. The sources said the troops were divided into 30-30 groups by the militants and shifted to their hideouts. Some of the tribal sources said that the troops were kept in houses of the local tribal people in Shawangi.

Sensing the seriousness of the issue, Assistant Political Officer (APO) Sarwakai subdivision, Khaista Rahman hastily took a Jirga of Mahsud tribal elders and people from the 21-member peace committee to Wana from Peshawar and Tank to help secure the release of the kidnapped soldiers.

According to sources, some of the Mahsud tribal elders and peace committee members were invited to Peshawar to receive their rewards from NWFP Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai for the crucial role they played in securing the release of 19 FC personnel, including a senior military officer, from the militants’ captivity a few days ago.

The Mahsud tribal elders, including Malik Masood, Malik Amir Mohammad, Maulana Esamuddin, Malik Saddam and Malik Saifur Rahman, reached Wana by road while Political Agent Hussain Zada Khan and JUI-F parliamentarian from South Waziristan Senator Maulana Saleh Shah were taken there in a military chopper.

In the first attempt, the military helicopter returned and landed in Kohat Cantonment due to bad weather in Wana but succeeded to land safely in its second attempt.

Before leaving for Ladha subdivision for talks with tribal militants, the Jirga members held talks with senior military officers and officials of the political administration and assured them that they would play their role in the safe recovery of the troops.

After attending the meeting, Senator Saleh Shah told reporters that he had heard the government’s point of view and would now be going to Ladha, along with other Jirga members, to meet the militants and listen to their viewpoint on the issue.

Saleh Shah, who earlier on Thursday had claimed that the troops could not reach their destination as a result of heavy rain and bridge collapse, confirmed that the soldiers were in the custody of the militants.

The Jirga members later left for Ladha in the evening and were supposed to hold talks with militants at night. Similarly, sources said several military gunship helicopters reached the Army camp at Ziari Noor in Wana, fuelling speculations about a likely major operation against the tribal militants.

Local tribal people said traffic on the usually busy Wana-Jandola road was thin due to growing tension in the region after the kidnapping of troops and barricades installed by the government on the road.

They said heavy trucks loaded with fruit and vegetables were standing on the road and were not given permission to travel to Tank and other parts of the country. In yet another incident, unknown armed people seized three civilian trucks and a bus on the Tank-Jandola road and took them to an unknown location. The trucks were carrying goods, including rations, for troops in Jandola FC fort.

Over 200 soldiers in captivity of militants

[IbnAbdullah]

Militants link soldiers' release to pullout

By Mushtaq Yusufzai & Sailab Mahsud

PESHAWAR/TANK: Tribal militants holding around 300 security personnel hostage in South Waziristan on Sunday made their release conditional to withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas besides release of their 15 comrades. They also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 10 FC soldiers from Mohmand Agency on Saturday evening.

Also, a bomb blast in Wana claimed the lives of four persons and injured 13 others Sunday. As the row between the Army and the tribal militants deepens, the authorities have put the Army on alert for launching a major operation against the tribal militants if they fail to release the abducted soldiers without any condition.

Tribal sources told The News from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan Agency, that a 100-member Jirga comprising prominent tribal elders from all the three subsections of Mahsud tribe and 21-member peace committee headed by JUI-F MNA Maulana Merajuddin returned to the town after holding unsuccessful talks with tribal militants in Ladha over the release of held soldiers.

The Jirga met with militant commanders including Baitullah Mahsud, Qari Hussain and Asmatullah Shaheen Bhittani at an undisclosed location in Ladha subdivision on Saturday evening and exchanged views with them on contentious issues, including the release of the held soldiers. On their arrival in Wana on Sunday, the Jirga members were received by senior officials of the political administration, Army and FC at the Civil Colony.

Briefing government officials about the outcome of their negotiations, Maulana Merajuddin said militants who earlier demanded the release of their 10 colleagues had now increased their number to 15. He said the militants claimed that these men were in the custody of the government on various charges. The government would have to release all of them if it wanted the safe return of the held soldiers and restoration of peace in the region.

The militants also demanded implementation of the Sara Rogha peace agreement signed between the government and Mahsud tribal militants on February 9, 2005, under which militants claimed they were promised that security forces would not be deployed in the Mahsud inhabited areas besides removal of the forces checkpoints. The agreement, they stressed, also called for the withdrawal of Army from the agency. By stressing the need for implementation of the Sara Rogha peace accord, the militants in fact wanted complete command and control over the area.

Similarly, they demanded that military officials would inform militants through the political administration about the troops movement in their areas so that they could take possible arrangements for their safe passage.

The militants further told the Jirga that the government would have to release all the Mahsud tribesmen taken into custody during the past few days in the wake of soldiers’ abduction under territorial responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations.

The officials, after listening to the demands of militants, asked the Jirga members to go back to their homes and sought some time to discuss these demands with senior officials.Despite several attempts by The News on Sunday, DG ISPR Maj Gen Waheed Arshad could not be approached for comments.

Government officials, however, said they wanted continuation of the negotiations with militants through the Jirga. They said the Jirga would be called back within a few days to hold further talks with the militants over the safe and early release of the troops.

Foreign agencies quoting a spokesman of the militants and officials said the militants linked the held soldiers release to the withdrawal of army from the area.“Their deliberation is going on. Now let’s wait and see what result it gets,’” Maj Gen Waheed Arshad told The Associated Press.

“The government should pull out Army troops from the area and should not set up new security posts,” the militant spokesman told the agency.General Arshad said he was not aware of any militant demands. He blamed militants for violating the deal by launching attacks on security forces and denied the agreement provided for a military pull back.

At a time when the Jirga members were holding talks with senior military officials and authorities of the political administration at Scouts Camp in Wana, a bomb blast rocked Rustam bazaar in the town, killing four persons and injuring a number of others.

Eyewitnesses said four people were killed on the spot and 13 others, including a senior commander of the Wazir tribal militants Meetha Khan, were injured seriously.One of the dead included a teenager, Wali Mohammad, son of Saleh, of the Mastikhel Wazir tribe.

Sources close to Commander Meetha Khan said the pro-government commander was the prime target of the attack as he used to sit in that shop where an aged bearded man brought a packet of apples and handed it over to the shopkeeper to deliver it to the commander.Some of the injured were shifted to Scouts Hospital while others were taken to private health centres in Wana.

According to sources, Meetha Khan received multiple injuries on his face, legs and hands and was rushed to FC hospital in serious condition.Meetha Khan, a close aide of Commander Maulvi Nazeer, had played a crucial role in the eviction of Uzbeks from Wana and its adjoining areas following bloody clashes between the Uzbek militants and local Wazir tribesmen.

On the other hand, well-placed sources told The News that army troops based in three cantonments — Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan — have been given alert orders for launching a major military operation against the militants if they do not agree to safe and unconditional release of the held security personnel.

Meanwhile, Zulfiqar Mahsud, who introduced himself as a spokesman for Baitullah Mahsud, called The News office from an undisclosed location and claimed that their men in Mohmand Agency had kidnapped 10 security personnel, including an officer, to force the government to stop the “killing of innocent people”.

He said they were holding 300 Pakistan Army and FC personnel, seized between Tiarza, Saam and Momin Kari in South Waziristan, at their private jails in groups.

He also claimed that their colleague carried out a suicide attack on troops in Jandola Saturday and threatened to continue such attacks in future as well if General Musharraf did not change his policies towards the people of tribal areas.

The purported spokesman further warned of suicide attacks on those supporting General Musharraf’s policies.Sources close to militants said the militants were now openly travelling in military vehicles in Ladha and Makeen while brandishing weapons they seized from the security forces.

On the other hand, the residents of Makeen and Ladha remained cut off from rest of the world as the two telephone exchanges there have been out of order for the last two days.Our Ghalanai correspondent adds: A tribal Jirga of Mohmand Agency on Sunday failed to convince the militants to release the 10 paramilitary personnel, including an officer, they kidnapped Saturday evening from Kandharo area of Lakaro subdivision.

A 100-member Jirga comprising prominent tribal elders and Ulema, including former MNA Malik Fazal Manan Kodakhel, Malik Hidyatullah Haleemzai, former commissioner Malik Nazeer Khan Sultankhel, Major Mutabar Khan, Maulana Abdul Haq Sangar, Maulana Samiullah, Maulana Abdul Jabbar, Maulana Sahib-e-Haq and others, travelled to Kandharo town and held talks with leaders of tribal militants. The Jirga requested the militants to immediately release the kidnapped soldiers as the security personnel were guests in the town and it was against customs and traditions of Pakhtuns to kidnap guests.

It is to be mentioned here that the militants kidnapped 10 personnel of Mohmand Rifles of the Frontier Corps including an officer, Major Asif Afridi, when they were passing through the area at 8 pm. The soldiers were also carrying Rs 260,000 cash, the salaries of soldiers based in Mohammad Gat area of the agency.

The soldiers were then shifted to unknown places by the militants during the night.While the Jirga members were engaged in talks with militant leader, Commander Sangeen Khan Kandhari, at the hujra of Malik Askar in Kandharo, dozens of armed militants suddenly appeared from their hideouts and overpowered Levies personnel to get hold of their checkpoints on Peshawar-Bajaur road.

On the request of the Jirga, the militants later left control of the checkpoints and returned to their hideouts.Commander Sangeen told the Jirga that unhappy with the military operations in which innocent people were killed and their houses demolished across the tribal belt they kidnapped the soldiers.

He said they have learnt that thousands of security forces were coming to Bajaur in 250 vehicles for launching a military operation against the militants.The Mohmand militants only demand to the Jirga was to oppose the likely military operation in Bajaur Agency. They assured the Jirga of their full cooperation and promised of handing over the soldiers to them soon.

AP adds: In neighbouring North Waziristan, militants meanwhile warned soldiers to leave the region in pamphlets distributed in Mir Ali town. The pamphlets, copies of which were seen by The AP, warned of suicide bombings against security forces.“Now we will slaughter anyone we catch and we will rest only when we turn this place into Fallujah,” the pamphlets referring to the insurgency-hit Iraqi city.

Militants link soldiers’ release to pullout