The Hindu : International : Chinese hostage dies in rescue bid

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 15, 2004

International

International

Chinese hostage dies in rescue bid

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 14. One of the two Chinese hostages and their five kidnappers were killed early this morning in a rescue operation by Pakistani forces in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Several attempts

Several attempts by the Government to negotiate their safe release since their capture on Saturday failed to yield results. According to the Government spokesperson, the rescue operation was launched after gunshots were heard from the hut where the hostages were held.

Officials said the kidnappers had demanded an end to military operations in the tribal region besides the freeing of two Uzbek militants.

Pakistani forces have been engaged in intense operations in the tribal belt in search of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives. Both the Pakistani forces and the fugitives have suffered high casualties in view of fierce resistance from the latter to calls for peaceful surrender.

"One of the engineers is dead. Unfortunately he has succumbed to his injuries. One is absolutely safe," the Inter Services Public Relations Director General, Shaukat Sultan, told reporters.

Negotiations

"We did our best to save the lives of (the) Chinese. The Government used political and administrative channels and the negotiations continued until Thursday morning.

But tribal elders told us that the matter could not be resolved." The Chinese engineers Wang Ende and Wang Peng were heading on Saturday to work on a dam project in the remote South Waziristan tribal region when they were kidnapped by Uzbek and Pakistani militants led by a former Guantanamo Bay detenue.

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