Cross-border: 17 men kidnapped from Landi Kotal work site

There were at least 10 heavily-armed attackers who took all labourers to the Afghan side of the border

LANDI KOTAL: Unidentified men abducted at least 17 irrigation department staffers from a site in Adil Khad village in Khyber Agency on Tuesday.

Security sources told The Express Tribune that the irrigation department of Khyber Agency had hired 18 local people to dig a water channel near the Pak-Afghan border in Adil Khad village, Landi Kotal Tehsil when 10 armed men attacked them and abducted all of the people at the site.



Officials said that local sources had confirmed to them that there were at least 10 heavily-armed attackers and that they took all the day labourers and irrigation department workers to the Afghan side of the border.

He said that one of the workers was able to escape while they were crossing the border and he had informed security officials of what had happened.

This was the first confirmed cross-border kidnapping undertaken by militants since the introduction of the new border management system.