More than 30 Pakistan Taliban militants were holding several officers hostage on Monday after breaking free from custody and seizing a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group -- separate from the Afghan Taliban but with a similar hardline Islamist ideology -- overpowered their jailers on Sunday and snatched weapons, reports AFP.
Muhammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, said in a statement late Sunday that the militants, held on suspicion of terrorism, are demanding safe passage to Afghanistan.
A senior government official in Bannu, where the incident is unfolding near the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan's former self-governed tribal areas, said hostages were still being held after a failed operation to free them.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
