Pakistan Army's special forces on Tuesday stormed a counter-terrorism centre in the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and killed "all the terrorists" who had taken hostages after negotiations between the government and the Taliban militants failed to resolve the nearly two-day long standoff.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that "all the terrorists" of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who had taken hostages at a Counter-Terrorism DepartÂment centre in Bannu were killed in an operation conducted by the Pakistan Army.
The government tried to negotiate with the militants to end the hostage crisis but after failed efforts, commandos from the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group (SSG) stormed the compound.
"This operation was initiated on December 20 at 12:30pm by the Special Service Group and all terrorists were killed," Asif said while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly.
He said that 33 terrorists were under arrest at the CTD compound and one of them had managed to snatch a gun from an employee after hitting him in the head with a brick.
The defence minister said that two commandos were killed while over a dozen injured during the operation.
Asif also said that all hostages had been released but didn't provide their number. Earlier, police sources had said that about two dozen officials had been made hostages. He said that the entire CTD compound was cleared by 2:30pm.
Earlier, officials said that all the terrorists were killed in the operation that lasted for 15 minutes. Footage aired on TV on Tuesday showed plumes of smoke rising in the air from the CTD compound.
The standoff began on Sunday when an arrested TTP militant, who was being interrogated at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station inside the Bannu Cantonment, snatched an AK-47 from the police and opened fire. He then freed other wanted militants being held at the building and together they took control of the compound. They also took several policemen as hostages.
The TTP demanded safe passage for its militants either to South or North Waziristan tribal districts.
The situation in Bannu remained tense on Tuesday as police and security agencies asked residents to remain indoors. A security alert was issued earlier and all schools and colleges in the Bannu district remained closed on Tuesday.