Scores of kidnapped Pakistani students and staff from a military-run college who were abducted by Taliban militants in the northwest of the country were rescued today, a military spokesman said.
The abduction took place yesterday as the Pakistani army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in the Swat valley, in another part of the northwest.
The Taliban were taking the kidnapped students to South Waziristan when soldiers challenged them on a road and a clash erupted, said military spokesman major-general Athar Abbas.
"Under cover of the firing the militants escaped and we have recovered them all," Mr Abbas said.
Abbas said 71 students and nine members of staff had been rescued.
Taliban fighters with hand grenades seized the students' convoy heading home for the summer holiday from the North Waziristan ethnic Pashtun region, on the Afghan border, to the town of Bannu, 240 km southwest of Islamabad.
Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said yesterday that the Taliban had seized up to 400 people in 28 vehicles but scores had escaped.
The vice principal of the college, Javed Alam, later told reporters about 200 had managed to slip away and had arrived at Bannu.
The surge of militant violence in Pakistan has alarmed the United States, which needs Pakistani action to help defeat al-Qaeda and get to grips with the Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan.
There are several Taliban- and al-Qaeda-linked groups based in North and South Waziristan in a loose alliance with the Taliban in Swat. South Waziristan is also the base of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
While the military has not announced any plans for an offensive after Swat is secured, officials have said a South Waziristan operation looked likely.
Pakistan launched an offensive against a growing Taliban insurgency in the Swat valley, 120 km northwest of Islamabad, a month ago, sparking a flood of fleeing civilians.
Officials say an estimated 2.4 million people have been displaced by the conflict in Swat and adjoining areas, prompting UN warnings of a humanitarian crisis.
US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said yesterday he would visit Pakistan this week to assess relief efforts to help the displaced.
The United States has welcomed the offensive in Swat but a protracted humanitarian crisis could undermine Pakistani public support for the fight against the Islamist militants.
On May 19th, the United States offered $110 million in aid for the displaced people.
"The president and the secretary of state instructed me to go to the refugee camps, as close to the zone of conflict as possible, to show American commitment to helping Pakistan in its moment of challenge ... and to see what additional support we can offer," Mr Holbrooke said in an interview in Washington.
"I am going to talk about the potential for more refugees in Waziristan and Baluchistan in light of the possibility of the battle zone widening," he said.
US officials want Pakistan to craft a counterinsurgency strategy that includes political, economic and other aspects to complement the military offensive and to win popular support.
Reuters