Pakistan: School gunmen take pupils hostage

Gunmen took 30 children and teachers hostage at a school in north west Pakistan today.

Troops surrounded the building and police were negotiating with the gunmen, believed to be five or six strong, at the village school near the town of Bannu, said a district police spokesman.

The stand-off began after the gunmen abducted a health official in a neighbouring district and were chased by police.

The gunmen eventually freed the official but took refuge inside the school, and were demanding safe passage in return for freeing the students and teachers.

One official said that two gunmen were killed and one policeman was wounded in an exchange of fire during the chase.

Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz described the gunmen as “terrorists.”

Bannu lies near the volatile tribal region of North Waziristan, a stronghold of Taliban militants near the Afghan border.

Police estimated there were about 25 students and five teachers held hostage, but Mr Nawaz said there were between 200 and 250 children inside the school at Wali Dar village.