Pakistan’s forces kill Taliban militants who seized anti-terror centre for three days

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants took hostage at least six police and military intelligence officers

Local residents watch smoke rising from a counter-terrorism center after security forces starting to clear the compound seized earlier by Pakistani Taliban militants in Bannu (AP)

A tense standoff between Taliban militants and Pakistan’s army and police force ended three days after the gunmen seized a local counter-terrorism centre and took hostages.

Pakistani security forces launched an operation on Tuesday and shot dead all the militants who seized the counter-terrorism centre in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to reports.

The militants, which officials earlier said numbered to at least 30, were members of the Tehreek–e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella group of Islamist and sectarian bodies separate from the Afghan Taliban.