Pakistan: Hostage situation ends in Peshawar, several freed from counter-terrorism centre
After an over 40-hour-long standoff, Pakistan Army’s special forces managed to free several hostages from local Taliban militants in Peshawar in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday. The development came after Pakistani security forces launched an operation to reach out to those captured at a highly fortified counter-terrorism centre in the city.
On Sunday last week, militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), detained at the counter-terrorism centre inside the Bannu Cantonment, freed themselves and took hostages at the centre. They overpowered guards and snatched police weapons, evolving the situation into a standoff.
The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but also allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in the neighboring country last year as the US and Nato troops were in the final stages of their pullout from Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, an unverified video on Twitter showed firing between the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police and the TTP militants.
The Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces since last month when they unilaterally ended a months-long ceasefire with the Pakistani government.
The violence has strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, who had brokered the cease-fire in May.
