Ultras kidnap 20 Pakistan securitymen

Unidentified militants attacked a checkpost in northwest Pakistan, killing at least two security personnel and kidnapping 22 others even as Interior Minister Rehman Malik ruled out a conditional truce offer by the Taliban.

The attack took place in Darra Adam Khel, located around 40 km south of Peshawar, Xinhua reported citing local media. One security personnel was injured in the attack. A report quoted security sources as saying that an estimated 30 militants were involved in the attack. Another report said 33 security personnel were kidnapped.

There was, however, no official confirmation about the reports. In Islamabad, Malik termed the Taliban’s truce offer as “unacceptable” and said militant groups cannot dictate the state.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has hinted at a cease-fire with the Pakistani government on condition that the country should end its participation in the Afghan war, reshape the foreign policy and the country’s constitution in accordance with the Islamic Sharia law, reported Xinhua citing Geo TV.

Taliban leader Ismatullah Muavia made the truce offer in a letter to Geo News.
“Taliban leader Ismatullah Muavia through his offer of conditional truce has tried to dictate the government, which is totally unacceptable,” the channel quoted him as saying.

The minister said Muavia was a member of banned extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which was behind many attacks on security forces and Shia Muslims. Malik said the Taliban was facing a rift and that was why the offer for a truce came from a leader and not directly from its chief Hakimullah Mehsud. He asked Kabul to hand over Pakistani Taliban leader Maulvi Fazalullah.