World | Afghanistan
Taliban abduct two journalists in region close to Afghan border
Pakistani Taliban fighters have abducted two Pakistani journalists who entered their stronghold in a tribal region close to the Afghan border.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:40 July 4, 2008
Peshawar/Islamabad: Pakistani Taliban fighters have abducted two Pakistani journalists who entered their stronghold in a tribal region close to the Afghan border.
The militants detained the freelance reporter and a photographer in Ziarat village, in the Mohmand region, late on Thursday.
"Now, our council will meet and decide what to do," Asad, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said by telephone yesterday.
A group of tribal elders have gone to negotiate for the release of the journalists, according to Syed Ahmad Jan, a senior administrator in Mohmand.
"We're doing our best. We've sent a delegation of tribal elders to the kidnappers to get them released," said Jan.
Pro-Taliban groups control large chunks of territory in ethnic Pashtun regions, like Mohmand, and Al Qaida militants are also hiding in the area along the Afghan border.
Meanwhile, a senior Pakistani official said yesterday the government is serious about fighting militants, after authorities said they had rounded up 220 suspects as a military operation proceeded in a volatile tribal region. But critics claimed the offensive along the Afghan border has been largely ineffective because many of those targeted had already fled and no leading militant chiefs were captured.
North West Frontier Province Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani defended the deployment of hundreds of security forces in Khyber agency, where authorities say they have also banned three local militant groups.
"The state is very serious" in fighting militants and the government plans to launch crackdowns against militants in other parts of the province, Ghani told reporters, without elaborating.
The Ministry of Interior said it has so far arrested 92 "criminals" and seized large caches of arms and ammunition in Khyber. Another 128 suspects have been arrested and drugs and weapons seized separately in the nearby city of Peshawar.
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