More than 35 Pakistani soldiers are missing after a fierce attack by the Afghan Taliban on a border checkpost in the tribal belt and militants have claimed they are holding 10 soldiers hostage.
Maj.-Gen. Athar Abbas, the chief military spokesman, confirmed the attack on the check post located between the Mohmand and Bajaur tribal regions on Monday and said 40 personnel from the paramilitary Frontier Corps were initially reported missing.
The militants handed over five security personnel to the Pakistani consulate at Jalalabad in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, while the whereabouts of the other 35 is unknown, Maj.-Gen. Abbas told the media.
Efforts were on to trace the missing personnel, he said.
However, the BBC quoting Taliban sources said the militants claimed they were holding 35 Pakistani soldiers after they overran the post in the Mohmand tribal area.
While attacks by Taliban on military checkposts in the tribal areas are common, but this is the first time that the Taliban has claimed taking Pakistani soldiers captive. BBC said a Taliban spokesman claimed that the rebels were holding Pakistani troops on both sides of the border — 30 in Afghanistan and 10 in Pakistan. The spokesman claimed that its fighters killed seven soldiers in the attack. Reports from Kabul quoting Kunar provincial police chief Khalilullah Ziaye said nine Pakistani militiamen were apprehended by Afghan Army.