The pre-dawn attack took place 35 kilometres north of Tank, the southern district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
A security official said that the attack took place some two hours after midnight when heavily armed militants fired rocket-propelled grenades destroying six rooms of the fortress.
One security person, Muhammad Yaseen, died instantly, while two others Afzal Khan and Fazal Kareem were injured.
A senior Tehreek-e-Taliban commander, speaking to local reporters from an undisclosed location, claimed responsibility for the assault.
Commander Asmat Ullah Shaheen claimed that the kidnapped men were in his custody. No immediate demands were put forth.
Marwat confirmed news of the kidnappings to the The Express Tribune. “Fifteen of our men are missing following the attack. Some weapons have
also been taken away by the militants,” he said. Local sources said the number of kidnapped men was actually 19, but this could not be confirmed officially.
Militants reportedly set fire to two barracks and four rooms burning all the security personnel’s belongings. Sources said that the firing was heard for almost half an hour.
The Mullazai area of Tank is on the border of the Frontier Region (FR). The troops of the Frontier Constabulary are kept in these buffer zones between the tribal and settled areas to maintain law and order. The Fort which is used during military operations to bombard militant hideouts with artillery shelling has been attacked on numerous occasions.
Immediately after the attack a large number of security personnel were deployed at the site and a search operation was launched. The exit and entry points of Tank had high level security measures in place, according to the locals.
An official from the area said that the kidnapped men were most likely taken to the tribal area. The incident is first of its sort since the conclusion of the military operation in the nearby South Waziristan Agency. In May this year, over 70 FC recruits were killed in a twin suicide attack in Shabqadar.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2011.
COMMENTS (20)
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Are these the same militants that are suppose to join forces with you when you break off relations with NATO?
@Mj:
NATO pays attention to needless deaths...........the Taliban on the other hand could care less.
@bangash - This is all a nasty political game played by the enemies of Pakistan and this civillian government does not have the intelligence or calibre to decipher any thing, let alone the every day security of common citizens. Enough of this democracy fasade! Enough blood has been shed and sacrificed for this sham!
@Harry Stone: You say that "Are you sure it was not NATO and the Americans disguisted as Taliban?"
No, they were probably dressed up as Mickey Mouse to confuse the soldiers!
@sam: Loss of morale is due to attitude of some Pakistanis who hurl insults on army. Why should FC jawans sacrifice their lives for an ungrateful public and political class who blames army for every wrong?
If I was in their position, I would think twice too. Maybe civilians should step up and protect Pakistan now instead of either joining Taliban or yelling from behind.
The Taliban Militants used Pakistan's soveriegnity as an air cover. They capitalzed this gain and attacked less equiped Army.
Are you sure it was not NATO and the Americans disguisted as Taliban
This is what happens when you dont have drone attacks on militants.
Did these 19 men just hand themselves to the Taliban? If it was a guarded fort then how did they manage to breach it? What is MI and ISI doing? Shouldn't they be keeping a track of militant activities? Lastly, where the hell were the cobras? 19 of our brothers will have their heads cut of because of mistakes made by their own brothers and corrupt leaders.
Chances are it was a counter to the weakening allegations. It doesn't necessarily mean they were false, though. If they wanted to discount the claim of being weak and scattered, the best way to go about it is to take the time to reach out to the scattered ranks and gather them for one large assault. However, realistically, one large assault does not mean they weren't extremely scarce in other areas when it took place. The moment they heard of such statements their priority would be to bring doubt upon it unless they were prepared to give in and nobody has ever accused them of not being persistent and stubborn. They were desperate for a show of strength and their pride was probably damaged. Such a thing would cause an event like this, even if, or especially if, the report was true.
Luckily for most people, it's not momentum that they can sustain for a long period if the report is true. If it happens, it will happen in bursts. The upside is, if you can find them while they're gathered you can deal an extremely devastating blow if you don't allow the surprise to knock you off balance. A weak group is sacrificing a great deal of defense for such an offense.
@sam: busy in politics ? it was memogate and corruption by Politicians which breaks morale and you clearly dont know about the military, there is no such division as top leadership and bottom soliders..everyone is the same
Where is the outrage from the moral brigade? Where is it? Are the lives of our army men only worth something if they are attacked by NATO? I hope they are safe and are not used as bargaining chips or worse.
Capture of 19 security personnel by the militants from a fortified fortress is indigestable. This can happen under two contigencies ie voluntary surrender or attacked by very large force but with just one casuality and rest escaping appears to be a unlikely scenario. Nevertheless it is a setback for the security forces since TTP took advantage due to a volatile situation in the country. Those who had analysed that this oufit is fragmented and a spent force had under-estimated their potential.
Taliban must fight occupying force in afghanistan but not in pakistan
@Sam: I fully support your two comments.
@Sam,
Apologize? The Taliban should be treated as an enemy of the state, albeit one without recourse to POW rights. Pakistan's soft-pedaling approach thus far has only encouraged these terrorists. Look at the United States. They bomb Taliban positions regularly and yet not one major US target has been hit in recent years.
Taliban should apologise for this.
19 missing. Jawans and officers are losing their morals because top military leadership is busy in politics and not doing enough to protect their lives. they took 19 men.