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Jandola falls to Baitullah, nine killed

* Taliban spokesman claims group abducted 10 pro-govt tribesmen

LAHORE: Militants loyal to Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud captured Jandola, a town at the entrance to the South Waziristan tribal region, on Monday after a battle with pro-government tribesmen, police said.

At least six people, four tribesmen and two militants, were killed in the fighting for control of the town, the gateway to Waziristan, they said. “The Taliban have taken over Jandola,” and taken seven tribesmen hostage, the area’s police chief, Barkat Ullah, told Reuters.

Tribesmen: A Taliban spokesman said nine people, including seven tribesmen, had been killed and the Taliban had abducted 10 pro-government fighters.

Dawn News reported that the Taliban kidnapped nine members from the Nemat Khel tribe, and that the death toll in clashes between tribesmen and Taliban had risen to nine. The channel quoted its sources as saying that the clashes started when the Baitullah Mehsud-led Taliban attacked the house of Turkistan group Deputy Commander Mir Baz Khan in the Saragarh area, Jandola.

Baz Khan is also the chief of a peace committee in the region, the channel said, adding that that a member of the Mir Baz group was killed and three injured in the attack. The Turkistan group claimed that two attackers from the Mehsud group were killed when they returned fire. reuters/daily times monitor

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