BANNU: There was no breakthrough in the hostage situation in the Counter-Terrorism Department’s (CTD) compound in Bannu as talks between Pakistani officials and the leadership of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were reportedly underway in Afghanistan, confirmed Mohammad Ali Saif, spokesperson of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government late on Monday.
According to a foreign news agency, Pakistani authorities opened talks to try to resolve a stand-off with the TTP who were holding several security personnel hostage after seizing control of a counter-terrorism facility in the country’s northwest a day earlier.
“We are in negotiations with the central leaders of the Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan,” said Saif.
The spokesperson warned of strict action if the armed men do not surrender. Internet services have been suspended in Bannu and the roads leading to and from the Bannu Cantonment have been blocked.
Miranshah Road and Jumma Khan Road are closed for all sorts of movements. The sources have claimed that the terrorists are demanding a safe air route to Afghanistan.
In a bid to defuse tension at Pak-Afghan Chaman border, a 16-member jirga comprising eminent clerics, local elders and traders left for Afghanistan to negotiate with the TTP’s leadership on Monday.
Talking to journalists ahead of leaving the country, Mufti Muhammad Qasim said they are carrying a “message of peace and friendship” with them.
“We received positive response from the Afghan authorities,” he added. The cleric added that loss of the common man is not in anyone’s interest.
Following the contacts and negotiations, the ongoing tension would be defused, hoped Malik Abdul Khaliq Achakzai.
A day earlier, four police personnel were martyred and as many others wounded in an overnight terrorist attack on the Bargai Police Station of Lakki Marwat area.
Terrorists launched an armed assault on the police station from two sides. A fierce exchange of fire took place between the police and the outlaws that left four policemen dead and as many injured.
The attackers escaped after the assault. Police have launched a search operation in the area for the saboteurs.
Constables Ibrahim, Imran, Khairur Rahman and Sabz Ali are among the deceased.
The hostage situation in the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Bannu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) continues after almost 17 hours as the militants occupying the compound of the police station on Monday reiterated their demand for safe passage to Afghanistan.
The militants reportedly control the entire police station compound. As per reports, the body of a policeman, who was martyred last night by the firing of the militants, has been transferred to the police lines.
Roads adjacent to the CTD compound and Bannu cantonment have been closed to traffic due to the security situation in the area. According to reports, the militants have appealed to Bannu’s scholars and leaders for talks.
A day earlier, at least two CTD officials were martyred and many more injured after a militant overpowered interrogators, snatched an AK-47 rifle, and opened fire inside the CTD facility.
In Peshawar, K-P government officials said that the situation was under “complete control” and efforts were being made to foil the “evil intentions of the criminals”. “There has been no infiltration in Bannu Cantonment,” a K-P government spokesperson claimed.
