Afghan raiders 'capture villagers'

Dozens of militants from Afghanistan have taken scores of villagers hostage in Pakistan’s north west, sparking fighting that killed at least 10 people, Pakistani officials said.

In the eastern part of the country, Taliban gunmen opened fire on a compound housing policemen, killing nine of them.

The militants who staged the cross-border attack appeared to be targeting members of an anti-Taliban militia in Kitkot village near Pakistan’s Bajur tribal area.

Pakistan has accused Afghan and Nato forces of not doing enough to stop Afghanistan-based militants from launching cross-border attacks, but has received little sympathy. The US and Afghan governments have long complained that Pakistan allows sanctuary to militants fighting in Afghanistan.

The militants who attacked today came from Afghanistan’s Kunar province and took hundreds of villagers hostage, including anti-Taliban militiamen.

The Pakistani army surrounded the village and killed eight militants, prompting the insurgents to retaliate by shooting dead two militiamen.

Soldiers have retrieved scores of villagers, but dozens more are still held by the militants or trapped in their homes by the fighting, said security officials.

The army called in gunship helicopters for support but have not used them yet for fear of civilian casualties.

The information could not be independently verified because the area is largely off-limits to reporters.

The police targeted in the eastern city of Lahore were training to become prison guards, said Habibur Rehman, the chief of police in Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital.

Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for police torture of their fighters in prison. In addition to the police who were killed, eight were also wounded.

One of the wounded, Shafqat Imran, said that eight to 10 attackers, who had their faces hidden behind hoods, stormed into the compound and started shooting randomly. They shouted “God is great,” then shot the policemen one by one, said Imran, speaking from a hospital bed.