zwanalak
Citizen
Militants kidnap students (UPDATE)
UPDATE
Monday June 01, 2009 (2353 PST)
SOURCE: PAKISTAN TRIBUNE http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=215522
ISLAMABAD: Unknown miscreants hijacked around 30 buses carrying 400 students including teachers of Razmak Cadet College on Monday.
Police Officer, Mir Sardar while talking to foreign based news agency told that incident took place some 30 kilometers away from the Cadet College near Kajuri.
He told that around 500 students left the school when some unknown person issued them warning to evacuate the school. He further told that 17 missing students managed to escape from the miscreants and they informed the police about the incident. DPO Bannu told that two of the busses carrying 20-25 students reached at Bakkha Khael and Miryan Police station. He said that police have started search of the rest of the students.
Razmak Cadet College is a military High School located in Razmak valley, North Waziristan and is spread over an area of 154 acres while the college affairs are regulated through a board of governors, founded by late Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The students were prepared for SSC and Intermediate Exams. Meanwhile,Assistant political agent Mawaz Khan Afridi while talking to Private TV Channel claimed that most of students have reached Bannu and only about 35 students are missing. He said that administration was trying to established contacts with Bannu and other areas besides establishing check posts on the road.
He further said that chances were there, that some local miscreants must have carried out the action. However, no group has claimed the responsibility yet.
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Reuter
By Alamgir Bitani
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan kidnapped about 300 students from a military-run college, with teachers and relatives, on Monday as they were traveling in mini-buses, police said.
The abduction took place while the Pakistani army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley in another part of the northwest.
Taliban fighters with hand grenades forced the students' convoy to a halt as it was traveling from the North Waziristan ethnic Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border to the northwestern town of Bannu.
"The driver of one of the vehicles managed to escape and students reported to us that their colleagues have been kidnapped by Taliban," said Razaq Khan, a police official in Bakka Kheil village in the area.
"The students reported that one Taliban carrying a hand grenade boarded each of the buses and took them away. We don't know where they have gone," he said.
Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, an adviser to the prime minister on the tribal areas, said efforts were under way to secure their release.
"We hope to get them released soon from these terrorists," he told Reuters.
Government officials said they were checking the report.
There are several Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked groups based in North Waziristan.
Militant violence has grown in Pakistan since mid-2007, with attacks on security forces, and on government and Western targets.
The violence has raised fears for the stability of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally and the safety of its nuclear arsenal.
While many members of the security forces have been captured, the kidnapping of civilians is relatively rare.
Pakistan has been carrying out an offensive against a growing Taliban insurgency in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad.
The army captured Swat's main town, Mingora, on Saturday.
The militants have responded to the offensive with eight bomb attacks in various towns and cities and have threatened more. Main cities are on alert.
(Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Andrew Dobbie)
Source Link:http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5504KH20090601
UPDATE
Monday June 01, 2009 (2353 PST)
SOURCE: PAKISTAN TRIBUNE http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=215522
ISLAMABAD: Unknown miscreants hijacked around 30 buses carrying 400 students including teachers of Razmak Cadet College on Monday.
Police Officer, Mir Sardar while talking to foreign based news agency told that incident took place some 30 kilometers away from the Cadet College near Kajuri.
He told that around 500 students left the school when some unknown person issued them warning to evacuate the school. He further told that 17 missing students managed to escape from the miscreants and they informed the police about the incident. DPO Bannu told that two of the busses carrying 20-25 students reached at Bakkha Khael and Miryan Police station. He said that police have started search of the rest of the students.
Razmak Cadet College is a military High School located in Razmak valley, North Waziristan and is spread over an area of 154 acres while the college affairs are regulated through a board of governors, founded by late Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The students were prepared for SSC and Intermediate Exams. Meanwhile,Assistant political agent Mawaz Khan Afridi while talking to Private TV Channel claimed that most of students have reached Bannu and only about 35 students are missing. He said that administration was trying to established contacts with Bannu and other areas besides establishing check posts on the road.
He further said that chances were there, that some local miscreants must have carried out the action. However, no group has claimed the responsibility yet.
========================================================================================================================================================================================================
Reuter
By Alamgir Bitani
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan kidnapped about 300 students from a military-run college, with teachers and relatives, on Monday as they were traveling in mini-buses, police said.
The abduction took place while the Pakistani army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley in another part of the northwest.
Taliban fighters with hand grenades forced the students' convoy to a halt as it was traveling from the North Waziristan ethnic Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border to the northwestern town of Bannu.
"The driver of one of the vehicles managed to escape and students reported to us that their colleagues have been kidnapped by Taliban," said Razaq Khan, a police official in Bakka Kheil village in the area.
"The students reported that one Taliban carrying a hand grenade boarded each of the buses and took them away. We don't know where they have gone," he said.
Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, an adviser to the prime minister on the tribal areas, said efforts were under way to secure their release.
"We hope to get them released soon from these terrorists," he told Reuters.
Government officials said they were checking the report.
There are several Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked groups based in North Waziristan.
Militant violence has grown in Pakistan since mid-2007, with attacks on security forces, and on government and Western targets.
The violence has raised fears for the stability of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally and the safety of its nuclear arsenal.
While many members of the security forces have been captured, the kidnapping of civilians is relatively rare.
Pakistan has been carrying out an offensive against a growing Taliban insurgency in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad.
The army captured Swat's main town, Mingora, on Saturday.
The militants have responded to the offensive with eight bomb attacks in various towns and cities and have threatened more. Main cities are on alert.
(Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Andrew Dobbie)
Source Link:http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5504KH20090601
