Detained Pakistani Taliban in a Counter Terrorism Department facility in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took control of the compound and held security guards as hostages, demanding safe passage to Kabul.
Some Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) detainees overpowered guards overnight at a counter-terrorism facility in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, seizing police firearms, capturing hostages, and taking control of the facility, Associated Press reported citing Pakistani officials.
The incident reportedly started late on Sunday, December 18, and swiftly turned into a standoff in which one counterterrorism officer was killed during the seizure at the detention facility, according to later confirmation from Pakistani officials.
Reports surfacing in the media state that there may be up to 10 hostages held by some 30 gun-wielding Pakistani Taliban involved in the takeover. While the Pakistani Taliban is a distinct organization, they are also allies with the authorities in Afghanistan, who overthrew the internationally-backed government last year as US and NATO forces were preparing to leave Afghanistan.
In exchange for the hostages’ lives, the TTP detainees who overtook the police center reportedly demand safe passage to Kabul, the Afghan capital.
According to the Pakistani authorities, the Pakistani Taliban’s top leaders and commanders have long sought sanctuary in Afghanistan and operate there from bases that carry out cross-border terrorist strikes.
Whereas, the TTP chief, Noor Wali Mehsud, the head of the Pakistani Taliban, recently claimed that the group targets and assaults Pakistan from “within its territory” in an effort to refute the idea that his group receives backing from the Afghan government.
