Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/BANNU: Three days after the TTP militants besieged a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) center in Bannu, the security forces launched an operation to free hostages that the banned group had taken.
Bannu CTD center
Late on Sunday, the militants detained at the CTD center took over the structure and kidnapped several law-enforcement officers. They had pushed for a safe route to Afghanistan. On Tuesday, TV footage showed smoke rising into the sky from the CTD compound. Residents in the area reported having heard explosions from the center’s vicinity.
On Sunday, terrorists attacked a police station in the Lakki Marwat neighborhood of the Bannu division, killing four police officers in the process. A soldier and two civilians were killed in a suicide attack in North Waziristan on Monday, while a sub-inspector with the Intelligence Bureau was shot dead in Peshawar. Yesterday, two bombings in Khuzdar, Baluchistan, left 20 people injured.
TTP claims responsibility
The TTP has taken responsibility for the attack on the compound after confirming in a statement made public on Monday that its members had kidnapped several CTD and security personnel. The spokesperson for the group claimed that in a previous video statement, the hostage takers demanded a safe exit but accidentally mentioned Afghanistan because they were ignorant of the situation on the ground.
On Monday, the militants who had taken over the CTD center also made several videos in which they pleaded with Bannu’s residents, particularly the ulema, to intervene and start a dialogue to end the standoff between them and law enforcement.
According to the official sources, operation in Bannu has ended. All militants have been eliminated. Those injured from the security forces include Maj Abid, N/Sub Zafar Yar, L/Hav Raheem, L/nk Irfan, Sep Shahid, Sep Abdul Qayyom, Sep Sufyan. Several of them are SSG who were part of hostage rescue.
