Eight out of 17 officials from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) have been rescued from the custody of militant groups, Dawn reports, citing sources.

 

Earlier, it was reported that at least 16 private workers of the PAEC, along with their driver, were allegedly kidnapped by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday in the southern Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

 

The local police say that the incident took place on Thursday morning in the area of Qabul Khel, known to have a huge collection of uranium mines operated under the Atomic Energy Commission.

 

However, a recent report suggests that a senior police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, revealed that a rescue operation was immediately launched after the partially successful incident. “Eight workers have been recovered so far, including one who was injured,” the official said.

 

Another official claimed that three workers had been injured and were transferred to the district headquarters hospital.

 

The kidnapped PAEC workers were on their way to a project site in the Qaboolkhel area of Lakki Marwat when their van was intercepted by armed militants near Wanda Painda Khan.

 

The kidnappers took the hostages to an unknown location and set the van on fire in a forested area along the Kurram River.

 

A few hours after the kidnapping, videos allegedly showing the kidnapped employees surfaced online. In these videos, the workers stated that they were in a safe place with the Taliban and appealed to the government to accept the kidnappers' demands for their release.

 

However, the BBC reports that they have not been able to verify the videos independently.

 

The banned militant outfit, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), issued a threat last week to target Pakistan’s military-economic projects.

 

The situation in Lakki Marwat has been tense for the past year and a half, with repeated attacks on law enforcement officials.

 

Separately, the police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) killed three terrorists from the Teepu Gull group, an affiliate of the TTP, during a joint operation in the Malang Adda area of Lakki Marwat on Thursday.

 

The operation was intelligence-based, and the killed terrorists were reportedly involved in attacks on law enforcement personnel, bombings, and other acts of terrorism.