Security forces on Wednesday raided a militant hide-out and fought a fierce gunbattle in Bannu to try to free seven soldiers taken prisoner a day earlier, officials said. One captive soldier was killed, three rescued, and the militants escaped with the remaining three, AP reports.The seven soldiers were seized by suspected militants on Tuesday in NWFP as they rode in two vehicles. Dozens of troops launched an attack on a house in Bannu town before dawn on Wednesday, and rescued three of the captive soldiers after a “fierce shootout,” said Mohammed Khan, a local police official. One of the captive soldiers died in the shootout, and the kidnappers managed to flee with the others, he said. “Efforts are under way to trace and rescue the remaining three soldiers,” Khan said.
Separately a paramilitary soldier was wounded in fresh overnight clashes at the Banda checkpoint in North Waziristan, where 18 militants were killed on Tuesday in intense fighting, officials told AFP. Helicopter gunships hovered in the sky early Wednesday amid ongoing fighting, residents said.
Militants also fired five rockets at a military post on the border, while another rocket aimed at an army camp in Miranshah missed its target and exploded near a hospital, they said. There were no casualties.
Staff Report adds: The bodies of the 18 militants killed on Tuesday were handed over to their families, local authorities said.