Kidnapped Pakistani soldier beheaded in Waziristan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Aug 14 (Reuters) Pro-Taliban militants beheaded one of 16 Pakistani paramilitary troops kidnapped last week near the Afghan border, and threatened to kill more unless 10 comrades are freed, officials said today.

The soldiers were abducted on August 9 in South Waziristan, a frontier tribal region and hotbed of support for Taliban and al Qaeda.

Residents found the body and severed head near a football ground today, Independence Day in Pakistan, in Jandola, 50 km (31 miles) east of South Waziristan's main town of Wana, said Latif-ur-Rehman, a senior government official in the region.

A note found near the body said others would meet a similar fate if the kidnappers' demands were not met.

Violence has escalated since militants abandoned a 10-month peace deal in neighbouring North Waziristan in July.

Pakistani security forces killed three militants yesterday after an attack on two military checkposts in South Waziristan, while four people were killed in a roadside blast in another northwestern town of Swat.

REUTERS CS DS1116