Pakistani special forces raid kills all Taliban hostage-takers at police center

By AP 20 December 2022, 2:49 pm

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Local residents watch smoke rising from a counter-terrorism center after security forces starting to clear the compound seized earlier by Pakistani Taliban members in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Muhammad Hasib)

Pakistan’s special forces raid a police center in a remote northwestern district, killing all Pakistani Taliban members who earlier this week overpowered guards at the facility, seized arms and took hostages, officials say.

The militants killed two hostages before the rescue operation, according to the country’s defense minister.

The swift operation is successful, according to security and intelligence officials, but it is not immediately clear how many Taliban members were killed — or how many officers had been held by the hostage-takers at the center in Bannu, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, since the brazen takeover on Sunday.