KALAYA, Jan 9: Militants in their redoubt in Upper Orakzal handed over to security personnel on Monday the bodies of 10 soldiers who had been missing since an attack on their post last month.

A spokesman for the banned Tehrik-iTaliban Pakistan (TTP) told Dawn in Miramshah, North Waziristan, that the bodies had been exchanged with those of 10 militants killed in two encounters in Khyber and Orakzai tribal regions.

A senior security official confirmed that the personnel had gone missing after a militant raid on their post in Kago Qamar in Dabori area of Upper Orakzai on Dec 21.

At the time, the army had confirmed the death of a major but said nothing about disappearance of the 10 men.

It was not immediately clear whether the soldiers had been killed during the raid or while they were in militants` custody.The bodies handed over in Kalaya were taken to Peshawar in a helicopter.

Army and Frontier Corps have launched an operation in Upper Orakzai that has turned out to be a tough challenge because of difficult terrain and concentration of militants in the region.

The TTP killed 15 men of the Frontier Constabulary and threw their bodies on a hill in North Waziristan last week to avenge the death of five militants, including their leader for Nowshera district, in Karamina area of Khyber Agency.

Reuters adds: `The Taliban had killed them (the 10 troops) and taken away their bodies.

`We killed some of their people and were in possession of their bodies,` a senior military official, requesting anonymity because he wasn`t authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters.

`Now, through negotiation, we have exchanged bodies.

The attack on the Maqsood post in Orakzal had left 10 people dead on each side, the official said.

TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said: `This is an exchange of bodies with them, as they killed 10 of our people and we have responded by killing 10 of their men.

Five Taliban bodies were given back last week in Khyber Agency and the other five were handed over on Monday in Orakzai.