By Xinhua
Islamabad : Militants in Pakistan’s Waziristan tribal region killed three kidnapped soldiers, the News Network International (NNI) news agency reported Thursday.
Local authorities said that they found the bodies of three soldiers on a road between Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan and Jandola, a major town in the region early Thursday.
Zulfikar Mehsood, a spokesman for the militant leader Baitullah Mehsood, was quoted by local media as saying that they would kill three soldiers daily if their demands were not met.
“The government is anxious for the release of the soldiers but when we ask for the release of our people then the government says it will be decided by courts,” Zulfikar said.
The militants kidnapped the soldiers on Aug 30 and demanded the release of their 10 colleagues and withdrawal of troops from the region.
A jirga or council of tribal elders has failed to secure the release of the soldiers after the government refused to accept militants’ demands.
The militants freed 32 kidnapped soldiers at the request of members of the tribal jirga last month.
Baitullah Mehsood signed a peace deal with the government in 2005 but the militants accuse the government of deploying troops in the region in violation of the peace deal.