Pakistan security forces are still trying to ensure the safe return of the 16 security men who went missing five days ago in the country's tribal region of South Waziristan, said local press on Monday.
The private Geo TV quoted Pakistan's military spokesman Maj. Gen.Waheed Arshad as saying that efforts were underway to search the missing security men in various parts of the region.
On Aug. 9, Arshad said that the security men were coming from the Spinkai area in South Wazristan to Jandola, another town in the region, but did not reach till the evening, their arrival time.
"When they did not report at their arrival place, they were registered as missing," he said, adding that search teams had been sent to the area.
Geo quoted sources as saying the 16 men were kidnapped and held by militants who demanded the release of 10 of their colleagues including six suicide bombers in return for the captive security men.
However, the government official in South Waziristan said that the hostage takers had not directly made demands to the government except those appeared in the media.
Violence has increased in the region after local Taliban scrapped a peace deal with the government following the security forces' operation against Lal Masjid, a mosque in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
Source: Xinhua
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