Associated Press
Associated Press
BANNU, Pakistan — Pakistani Taliban disguised in burqas attacked an office of the security force’s intelligence agency in the country’s northwest on Monday, taking several hostages before police stormed the building and ended the siege, police said.
The attack took place in the city of Bannu just outside of the militant stronghold of North Waziristan in the rugged tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.
Police official Zeenatullah Khan said police cordoned off the building and exchanged fire with the attackers. The roughly five-hour siege ended after police stormed the building and rescued the hostages.
Initial reports indicated that one police officer was killed in the attack, but police official Zahid Khan from Bannu said no police died. Three were wounded, he said.
He said security forces caught two of the attackers while another was killed by police gunshots and a fourth exploded his suicide vest.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
“They are our fighters. They are fighting. There are two suicide bombers,” said Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for the Taliban. He spoke to The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Bannu police chief Waqar Ahmad Khan said the attackers tried to disguise themselves as women when they entered the police building by wearing burqas, a type of cloak worn by conservative women in Pakistan that covers the face and most of the body.