Taliban dump 15 naked bodies of Pak security men

Islamabad: The Taliban on Thursday dumped 15 naked bodies of Pakistani paramilitary frontier constabulary personnel kidnapped two weeks ago in a north western town, signalling that some militant factions may have spurned peace talks with the government.

"The naked bodies were found in a field near the mountains," senior police and army officers were quoted as saying by the TV channels.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the brutal murders and a spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told the Pashto-language Khyber Television channel that the bodies of the slain Frontier Constabulary personnel had been dumped at Spin Tul, an area near North Waziristan Agency.

Heavily armed Taliban fighters had kidnapped 15 security personnel when they launched a pre-dawn attack on the Frontier Constabulary's Mullazai Fort in Tank district, located near South Waziristan Agency, on December 23.

The Taliban had subsequently demanded the release of some militants in exchange for the paramilitary personnel.

The Taliban apparently killed the security personnel in retaliation for an operation by security forces against militants in Khyber Agency a few days ago.

Taliban spokesman Ehsan warned that the militant would carry out more "revenge attacks" in the coming days.

He said Taliban would also take revenge for an operation by security forces in Zhob district of Balochistan province that killed several militants on Wednesday.