Islamabad: Pakistani security forces today (Oct 14, 2004) rescued the two Chinese engineers held hostage by al-Qaeda-linked militants in the tribal Waziristan agency after killing their five kidnappers.

One of the Chinese hostages was injured in the rescue operation and the five kidnappers killed, Defence Spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan told State television.

Commandoes stormed the remote hideout near the Afghan border where they were being held just after midday after they heard gunshots and feared the captors had killed one of the Chinese, Sultan said.

Two rounds of talks between tribal elders and militant leader Abdullah Mehsud- who was hiding in mountains while five of his men held the hostages in a nearby village- collapsed late last night.

The Chinese engineers, Wang Ende and Wang peng were working on Pakistan's Gomal Zam Dam project for China's State-run Hydro Corp. when they were abducted on Oct 9, 2004 in the remote South Waziristan tribal region where hundreds have died in battles between security forces and al Qaeda-linked militants since March.

Influential tribal elders in the region had said they would support the military if it used force to free the Chinese, who were snatched along with their Pakistani driver and security guard.

The status of the two Pakistanis was not immediately clear.

The kidnappers initially told the Government they wanted to trade the hostages for foreign militants captured by the army during a recent military operation against al-Qaeda fighters in South Waziristan.