Militants: Pakistan hostages will be slain if insurgents are not released
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Militants will start killing a group of hostages if the government does not release several insurgent prisoners within a day, a Pakistani Taliban spokesman threatened Friday.
A suspected militant leader is among those the Taliban want freed.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his country does not negotiate with terrorists and will not capitulate to threats. "We will take action when it's required," he said after a speech at a think tank in Washington.
Maulvi Umar, the Taliban spokesman, claimed the Taliban had kidnapped 29 people, most of them security forces. However, Hangu district official Haji Khan Afzal said only 16 or 17 people were being held.