Pro-Taleban militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas have released a video of 16 kidnapped soldiers.
The footage shows one of them being beheaded.
The abductions coincided with a sharp rise in violence over the past month as peace deals between the government and the tribesmen unravelled.
More than 60 soldiers and 250 militants have died in a growing insurgency in the border regions near Afghanistan as troops have redeployed heavily. Daily bombings
The video shows four armed teenagers standing behind a soldier before one of them cuts off his head.
The footage was released amid negotiations to free the 15 soldiers still held by militants in the tribal area of South Waziristan.
Crucially, elders are trying to restore a peace deal that has been severely strained by the recent redeployment of troops.
The return of military check posts also triggered the end of a peace agreement in neighbouring North Waziristan.
Since mid July, pro-Taleban tribesmen there have carried out almost daily bombings against the Pakistan army.
The military said it has boosted its presence in the tribal areas to stem a wave of attacks spreading throughout the country.
But it is widely believed it also acted under strong American pressure to resume operations in the border region.
US officials say that a peace deal struck in the past two years failed to stop the flow of Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters into Afghanistan, creating a sanctuary for them instead.
The Americans have threatened to take action if Pakistan does not.
At the weekend, coalition forces admitted to another strike across the border, although Pakistan denied it took place.
The growing insurgency in the tribal area has alarmed Pakistanis. Analysts agree that pro-Taleban forces largely control the region but they also say military force alone only strengthens support for the militants.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pro-Taliban militants have released a video of an apparently teenage boy beheading one of 16 Pakistani soldiers kidnapped in a restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan. The gruesome recording, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, will likely put further pressure on President Musharraf to crack down on Islamist violence in the NWFP. The 35-minute video entitled “Revenge” first shows the 16 soldiers, all of them in uniform, who were taken hostage on August 9 in South Waziristan. Four teenage boys with Kalashnikov assault rifles, daggers and headbands with jihadi slogans are then shown along with one of the soldiers kneeling in front of them. One boy cuts off the soldier’s head using a knife and holds it up for the camera. The soldier’s body was recovered on August 14 from a nearby town. The video shows the victim saying that “security forces should not fight against the Taliban”. “It proves that they are terrorists. It is an act contrary to tribal customs and is also a cowardly act to kill an unarmed human being,” ISPR Spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said. afp
scary and insane yes. unfortunately for pakistani army, as you sow, so you reap.
how can 16 fully-armed soldiers on duty be abducted by random teenagers? shouldn't have run all those jihadi training camps and supplied those kalashnikovs in the first place, perhaps. (refer to dawa-i-dil's blog as a proud ISI insider for details).
The Army should pound them full force...the poor jawans are being sacrificed just because the govt tries to handle the militants in a restrained way to minimize casualty and keep the indiscriminate anti-army voices in control...see this is what happens when there are popular sympathizers for criminals just for self gain and anti-govt mileage regardless of its larger national after affects...
Long live Pakistan Army and Salutes to each Jawan! :Salute:
Every one of them is countless times a more valuable national and social asset than these freaking terrorists.
Here is the video. IT is shocking to see a boy standing with a knife near him. They have shown the person say something in the end. The cuting of head is not shown/ or deleted.
Click the video of " Taliban ki nayi video"
What are these people doing in the name of Islam. Teaching the teenagers to do kill people and that too your own muslim brothers by cuting their heard ???. May Allah show all the muslims the right path. Ameen