[ADN Kronos] Around 40 students and teachers kidnapped from a Pakistani military college early this week are still in Taliban captivity, a day after the military said they had been rescued. The students were among 80 students and teachers captured by militants in North Waziristan near the Afghan border on Monday.We figured that, since we're pretty good at counting...
"More than 40 students and two teachers are still missing. Militants have abducted them," said Sardar Mohammad Abbas, the top administration official in the northwest town of Bannu where the students had been headed.
Tribal elders on Wednesday were mediating with militants to secure their release, the commissioner said.
A convoy of about 30 vehicles carrying staff and students from the college was ambushed in northwest Pakistan on Monday.
Pakistan's military said Tuesday it had recovered 80 students and staff when militants moved them from North Waziristan to South Waziristan -- lawless tribal zones on the Afghan border where Al-Qaeda is known to be active.
But staff of the college at Razmak in North Waziristan confirmed Wednesday that more than 40 students and two teachers were still missing.
According to Pakistan's GeoNews, a tribal jirga, or tribal council had been held with local Janikhel and Bakakhel tribes and commercial centres had been sealed off in the area in a bid to locate the students and staff.
Police have given the tribal jirga a deadline for information about the kidnap victims.