Jailed Pakistan Taliban militants take hostages at police station, talks to resolve matter begin

Pakistani authorities have opened talks to try to resolve a stand-off involving more than 30 Pakistan Taliban militants who have taken hostages at a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern Pakistani area of Bannu. They brokefree from custody and seizeda police station, officials said and were looking to negotiate with government authorities for a safe passage to neighbouring Afghanistan.

"We are in negotiations with the central leaders of the Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan," Mohammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government, told Reuters.

Members of the Tehreek–e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group, that is not linked tothe Afghan Taliban but have a similar hardline Islamist ideology, overpowered the jailers on Sunday and snatched weapons.

The terrorists are demanding safe passage to Afghanistan, Muhammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, said in a statement late Sunday.

A senior government official in Bannu said that hostages were still being held after a failed operation to free them.

The TTP claimed has responsibility for the incident.

The demand is safe passage to Afghanistan, "otherwise, the entire responsibility of the situation will be on the military," the TTP said in a statement.

A video posted from the scene of the incident has emerged onsocial media. The government official confirmed that it is from the scene and shows agroup of armed men with long beards threatening to kill all the hostages.

He said they had at least eight hostages, including police and military staff.

Earlier, suspected terrorists attacked a police station in Pakistan's Lakki Marwat district early Sunday, killing four police personnel and critically injuring four others, Associated Press reported citing the police. Nawaz Khan, an officer of the targeted police station said the attackers used grenades and automatic weapons on the station before fleeing the scene overnight. Khan said police personnel on duty retaliated and called for reinforcement before the attackers fled the scene. Police are searching for the attackers, the officer added.

The deceased personnel were identified as Head Constable Ibrahim, Imran, Khairul Rehman, and Sabz Ali, according to a report by the Business Recorder. Their funeral prayers were held at the Lakki police line on Sunday.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack till now.

Pakistan has been fighting an insurgency by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The TTP associates itself with Afghanistan's Taliban, which had been trying to broker talks between the Pakistani government and the TTP.

(With inputs from agencies)

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