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Pakistani security forces have killed all the terrorists in an operation to free hostages from militants at a counter-terrorism center in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed on Tuesday.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, the defense minister said that two commandos of the army’s Special Service Group (SSG) embraced martyrdom, while 15 others received bullet injuries.
According to media report, the Zarrar Company – SSG’s elite counter-terrorism unit – conducted the operation that concluded within 20 minutes.
Forces are now conducting a combing operation in the area to search and neutralize any terror threats still hiding out there.
Late Sunday, the militants held in the CTD center took control of the building and took a number of law enforcers hostage. They had demanded safe passage to Afghanistan.
Earlier on Tuesday, security forces have launched an operation to free hostages from militants at a counter-terrorism center in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after failed negotiations.
Footage aired on TV on Tuesday showed plumes of smoke rising in the air from the CTD compound. Reuters reported locals as saying they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the center.
“All options failed and the terrorists refused to free innocent people, so we decided to use force,” a senior security official told Reuters on anonymity, adding that an operation was not launched earlier because of the safety of the hostages.
He said minimum force would be used to ensure the hostages’ safe release. Residents said they heard explosions coming from the vicinity of the center on Tuesday.
On Sunday, more than 30 members of the outlawed TTP held several officers hostage after breaking free from custody and seizing a police station in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said. The militants had overpowered their jailers and snatched weapons.
They took hostages to negotiate with government authorities, officials said. They fired at security personnel, injuring a policeman and a soldier.
A video posted on social media, which the government official confirmed to be from the scene, showed a group of armed men, with one threatening to kill all the hostages.
“During the interrogation, some of them snatched guns from the policemen and later took the entire staff hostage,” he told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
“They want us to provide them safe passage via a ground route or by air. They want to take all the hostages with them and to release them later on the Afghan border or inside Afghanistan.”
He said the authorities were yet to receive a response from the TTP, adding that relatives of the militants and local tribal elders had also been involved in starting talks.
