Taliban kidnaps 400 students

CNN:

Militants in a Taliban-held area of Pakistan are believed to have abducted more than 400 students and their relatives Monday after a ceremony marking the last day of school, a police official told CNN.

The abduction took place in North Waziristan, located in Pakistan's tribal region, where the military has waged a bloody battle against Taliban insurgents.

The militants seized more than 30 vehicles carrying 443 students and their relatives who were leaving the ceremony marking the last day of school at Razmak Cadet College, according to Iqbal Marwat, a police official in nearby Bannu District.

He said 22 students in two vehicles managed to escape; the remaining 421 students and their relatives are still missing. The students are between the ages of 9 and 22, Marwat said.

The reported abductions follow a series of attacks on civilians in northwest Pakistan.

An explosion struck a bus station in the city of Kohat on Monday, killing two civilians and wounding 18, a police official said. Kohat is in North West Frontier Province, where a string of militant attacks in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan killed 12 people last week.

...


The Taliban cannot be endearing their cause to the people. It appears they would like to kidnap the whole country and force their weird religious beliefs on everyone.

This looks like a desperate attempt to stop the army operation that has been advertised for this area. They have been defeated in Swat and face a defeat in South Warizistan. Threatening the lives of students to keep their despotic rule does not sound like something that the people will give in to.

The NY Times has more details on the kidnapping. It does not sound like there were that many Taliban kidnappers, however they were heavily armed. The small number probably accounts for the ability of some of the intended victims to escape.

Pakistan's Dawn has more on the kidnapping and indicates the government is in negotiation with the Taliban at this time. I think it would be difficult to hide that many minivans.

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