PESHAWAR: Tribal militants kidnapped over 500 students of the Razmak Cadet College from the Bakkakhel Frontier Region, Bannu, adjacent to the North Waziristan tribal region, on Monday, according to government and police officials.
‘This is a serious development and will have far-reaching repercussions,’ a senior security official said.
Details were sketchy but the official said that 33 vehicles had started off from Razmak, with 540 cadets, teaching staff and their families after the principal of the college ordered its closure amid apprehensions about an impending military operation against militants.
Officials acknowledged that in accordance with an agreement with the government, local militants affiliated with Commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, had escorted the vehicles, along with Khasadars, till the tribal region’s boundary with F.R. Bannu.
‘The vehicles were waylaid by armed militants in the Bakkakhel area and commandeered towards Marwat Canal,’ the official said.
Police said that some women and children were later freed. But, the militants carrying rockets, grenades and automatic machine guns boarded the vehicles and commandeered them to some unspecified place.
Another coach, carrying 17 people, including 10 students, a librarian and a doctor, managed to reach the Miryan police station in Bannu. They were later escorted to the Cantonment police station for their onward journey to their destinations, the police official said.
The number of those kidnapped varied, but one official put the figure at close to 518, including cadets and members of the teaching staff.
District Police Officer of Bannu Iqbal Marwat, however, said that 67 cadets had managed to reach the police, while over 400 were missing.
‘The Taliban are behind the kidnapping,’ Mir Sardar, Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Miryan police station, told The New York Times by phone from Bannu.
Marwat Canal leads to South Waziristan’s Spinkay, through Frontier Region Tank, linked up by a nullah frequently used by militants to bypass security checkposts.
Gul Bahadur, leader of the Ittehad-i-Shura Mujahideen, North Waziristan, has wide influence in Bakkakhel and some officials believe that the kidnapping could not have taken place without his blessing.
‘He thinks that he can hoodwink us by escorting these students and teachers to fulfil his commitment not to harm them in his area of influence and then have them kidnapped from Bakkakhel. But we all know whose people operate in Bakkakhel,’ the official said.
He said that three militant commanders -- Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan leader Baitullah Mehsud, Maulvi Nazir in South Waziristan and Hafiz Gul Bahadur -- had forged an alliance to help each other in the event of a military operation.
Citing recent reports, the official said that Maulvi Nazir who didn’t trust the TTP leader, had sent men to fight for him against any possible military operation.
‘They are all one,’ the security official said. He said the kidnapping would have far-ranging consequences since most of those kidnapped belonged to the federally administered tribal regions.
Security officials said that militants from all over the tribal region were converging on the Mehsud part of South Waziristan amid reports that a military operation was imminent.
There has been an increase in clashes between militants and security forces in the Mehsud territory after the military made inroads for what it calls ‘readjustments’ to link up vital communication network.
Baitullah Mehsud warned of attacks if troops do not withdraw from his area, after a jirga failed to mediate between him and the tribal administration.
Officials said that the militant leader would like to use the kidnapped students to secure the release of his comrades under detention and force the government to not only withdraw its forces from the region but also halt the military operation.
The political administration in F.R. Bannu and North Waziristan has tasked a jirga of tribal elders to locate the kidnapped cadets and staff members and secure their early release, the official said.
AP adds: A government official said late on Monday night that police were negotiating with the Taliban to release the kidnapped cadets. Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, who advises the prime minister on tribal regions, said that hostages had been taken to Bakkakhel in North Waziristan, a stronghold of militants.
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