Pakistan siege ends; all 33 captors killed

All 33 suspected militant prisoners who seized a Pakistan police station over the weekend were killed and their hostages freed in a clearance operation by special forces yesterday, the defence minister said.

The hostage takers, who were suspected of being members of various militant groups including the Tehreek–e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), overpowered their jailors and snatched weapons on Sunday.

"All the hostages have been freed," Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament.

Elite troops stormed the police station around noon when differences broke out between the hostage takers over how to handle their captives, with witnesses reporting blasts and heavy firing.

The suspected militants, who were being held on suspicion of terrorism, had demanded safe passage to Afghanistan in return for releasing the hostages -- at least eight police officers and military intelligence officials -- a spokesman for the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, said earlier.

"There were 33 terrorists from different groups who had been arrested and jailed in the counter-terrorism department compound," Asif said.

"One of them hit his guard on the head with a brick while going to the toilet and snatched his weapon," he added, explaining how the siege unfolded.

The police station is within a cantonment area in Bannu, adjacent to the border with Afghanistan.