By NNN-PTI,
Islamabad : Pakistani authorities have freed 21 Taliban fighters in exchange for an equal number of security personnel and civilians kidnapped by the militants following months of secret negotiations brokered by tribal elders.
The militants freed by authorities yesterday included some lieutenants of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud.
They were being held in jails in Peshawar, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, a security official said.
Sources told The News daily that the Taliban fighters were handed over to a ‘jirga’ or tribal council that took them to Makeen area in the restive South Waziristan tribal region, where Mehsud and other key Taliban commanders welcomed them. Most of the released militants belonged to the Mehsud tribe.
In exchange, the militants freed 19 paramilitary personnel and two non-combatants they had kidnapped several months ago in South Waziristan and Mohmand tribal regions.
An official told ‘Dawn’ newspaper that 16 troopers and two civilians who supplied rations to security forces were set free at Nawazkot in South Waziristan. They were captured by supporters of Mehsud on January 15. Three other paramilitary personnel, kidnapped in January and August, were freed in Mohmand Agency.
There was no official word on the development. The Taliban and Pakistani authorities have also swapped prisoners in the past.