PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — Suspected Taliban rebels kidnapped 17 tribal policemen near Pakistan's Khyber pass, police said Monday, the latest incident on the main supply route for international forces in Afghanistan.
Armed men attacked four checkposts on Sunday in the troubled region, where militants blew up 36 tankers bringing fuel for US and NATO troops across the border in March, wounding 100 people.
"Seventeen of our policemen are missing after the attack, carried out by a group of armed men who looked like local Taliban," Ali Mohammad Shah, commander of local tribal police, told AFP.
One policeman was injured when the attackers fired a rocket at one the posts, he said, adding that police were trying to trace the hostages and their kidnappers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
But Pakistan's envoy to Afghanistan was also abducted in February while passing through the Khyber region. He was freed by militants in May after protracted negotiations.
The security of the route has been under scrutiny since the US-led coalition reported that four helicopter engines worth 13 million dollars had gone missing in April while being transported by a Pakistani haulage firm.
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