Suspected militants on Sunday released 50 out of 60 kidnapped employees of the state-owned Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), officials said.
On Saturday, the militants dressed as policemen kidnapped about 60 people in lawless Kurram Agency.
Heavily armed militants first seized a vehicle belonging to the government power utility and then kidnapped the WAPDA officials. One of their vehicles was also set on fire. Shortly afterwards, several vehicles were seized from a convoy of civilians travelling to Parachinar. Negotiations involving tribal elders were underway for the release of the remaining 10 hostages. Pakistani government officials have accused Pakistani Taliban militants of carrying out kidnappings after coming under pressure from security crackdowns in Kurrum and other areas. In a video message last week, Pakistan’s Taliban warned America it will soon burn while calling for Pakistan’s rulers to be overthrown for following “America’s agenda”.
Meanwhile, fighter jets and helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts in north-western Pakistan on Sunday, killing 40 suspected insurgents as part of the military’s campaign to rout Taliban fighters from a mountainous area near the Afghan border, a government official said. The Pakistani military launched the ongoing offensive in the Orakzai tribal region in mid-March to flush out militants who in 2009 fled an Army offensive in nearby South Waziristan. Persistent artillery and aircraft attacks have killed hundreds of insurgents over the past two months, the military says.
Fighter jets attacked militant sanctuaries on Sunday in the villages of Dabori, Gojar and Kamer Mela in Orakzai, killing 25 suspected insurgents, said Samiullah Khan, a senior government administrator in Orakzai. Later in the day, helicopter gunships assaulted the same areas, killing 15 more, said Mr Khan.
It was impossible to independently confirm the casualties.