Accessibility links

Breaking News
News

Pro-Taleban Militants Release 30 Captured Pakistani Soldiers


Pro-Taleban militants have released at least 30 of nearly 250 Pakistani soldiers abducted near the Afghan border in late August.

The militants freed the soldiers early Saturday in the South Waziristan tribal region.

Last month, pro-Taleban militants handed over at least 25 of the captured soldiers to a tribal council of elders (or jirga) near Wana, the main town in South Waziristan.

The militants have demanded that Pakistani security forces release detained fighters and pull out of the tribal region in return for freeing more soldiers.

The capture of the troops has been an embarrassment for Pakistan's army as it struggles to contain a recent upsurge in violence near the Afghan border.

The violence follows the collapse of a peace deal in July between Pakistan's government and pro-Taleban tribesmen.

XS
SM
MD
LG