Taliban in Pakistan murders over 20 captured police officers
Government officials say 21 out of 23 tribal policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban have been executed by their captors in northwest Pakistan.
Photo/Fast Track via wikimedia commons
Naveed Akbar Khan, a local government official, told the AFP news agency on Sunday: “We found 21 bullet riddled bodies of security personnel a short while ago in an uninhabited area.”
“One was found alive but wounded and admitted to hospital while another managed to escape unhurt,” he added.
Khan said officials found the bodies shortly after midnight on Sunday after being notified by one policeman who had escaped.
The victims were from a paramilitary force recruited from members of ethnic Pashtun tribes in northwestern Pakistan, reported the Reuters news agency. The militias support the government in its efforts against fighters battling the state, it added.
Policemen were captured after 400 Taliban fighters reportedly attacked their posts.
“After the levies [local name for police] discovered that this was some sort of a surprise attack, there was resistance. Two of the levies forces were killed [and] 23 were taken away,” he said.
