Stand-off over Pakistan hostages

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Security forces in north-west Pakistan say they are closing in on pro-Taleban militants holding hostages near the border with Afghanistan.

Negotiations aimed at securing the release of the hostages have collapsed, officials say.

More than 20 government employees were seized by the militants in Hangu district two weeks ago.

There has been tension in the area since the arrest of several militants some weeks earlier.

The militants have threatened to kill the hostages if the troops do not move back.

'Top commander held'

Talks mediated by a jirga, or tribal council, broke down when the government refused to release the militants who were arrested.

The government's adviser on interior affairs, Rehman Malik, said the militants being held include a number two commander of top militant leader, Baitullah Mahsud.

On Saturday the militants killed 15 tribal border police in an ambush in Hangu district's Zargari area bordering Orakzai tribal region.

Army officials say that troops equipped with tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) have advanced to the Zargari area and have taken positions there.

They say most Taleban have moved to the Orakzai region and are firing mortar shells at army positions from there.

An army spokesman told BBC News that troops were in return pounding militant positions in the hills with artillery.

He said they were using locally manufactured Luna spy planes to identify targets.

Residents say artillery shelling and attacks by helicopter gunships have continued unabated in the area since Wednesday.

A police official in the town of Doaba, near Hangu, told the BBC Urdu service that one of the mortar shells fired by the militants at a temporary army camp in the area last night had hit a nearby house, killing a woman and injuring two others.

Both Hangu and Doaba have been under curfew for over a week.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Orakzai Taleban, Maulvi Haider, told the BBC Urdu service that if the operation was not stopped, they would start beheading the hostages they hold.

The Taleban claim to hold more than 50 hostages. The government has confirmed some of them, but has not given any number.

It is generally believed the Taleban are holding at least 20 hostages.