Militants capture counter-terrorism centre in Pakistan, take hostages

Militants have seized a counter-terrorism centre in the northwestern Pakistani area of Bannu and taken hostages to negotiate with government authorities, officials said on Sunday.

"It's not clear if the terrorists attacked from outside, or if they snatched the ammunition from staff inside while being interrogated following their arrest," Bannu police spokesman Muhammad Naseeb told the news agency Reuters.

He said security forces had surrounded the compound.

Two other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants were looking to negotiate for safe passage to neighbouring Afghanistan.

One said about 15 militants took control of the centre after overpowering interrogators inside, grabbing their weapons and taking five or six of them hostage.

The affiliation of the militants was not immediately known.

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Pakistan has been fighting an insurgency by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The TTP associates itself with Afghanistan's Taliban, which had been trying to broker talks between the Pakistani government and the TTP.

A spokesman for the TTP did not immediately confirm or deny a link with the militants in the compound.

Earlier in the day, at least four policemen were killed and as many injured in an ambush on a police station in the Lakki Marwat district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, abutting neighbouring Afghanistan. It was the latest in a slew of similar incidents in recent months. 

The recent attacks are the aftermath of rescinding a fragile cease-fire between Pakistani security forces and the TTP. Both sides blame each other for the violation of the cease-fire.

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