MIRANSHAH, March 13: The authorities seized 440kg of gunpowder on Wednesday near Afghanistan’s Paktia province where US-led forces are fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda militants.

“We have seized two sacks of gunpowder from a pick-up truck and arrested two Afghan nationals and a Pakistani,” Maqsood, a sub-district administrator in Miranshah, told Reuters.

“The highly explosive material was smuggled into Pakistan from Afghanistan,” the official said, adding that the gunpowder was intended for use in mortar bombs and other explosive devices.

US and Afghan troops said on Wednesday they were chasing the remnants of the vanquished Taliban movement and Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network after overrunning the mountain cave complex where they were holed up. Afghan General Abdul Joyenda said on Tuesday the rebels were fleeing towards the border with Pakistan.

Maqsood said the two Afghans arrested were residents of the eastern Afghan province of Khost, next to Paktia. The third man was from Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area.

Another Pakistani official, Khawaja Jan, said the men entered Pakistan despite Tuesday night’s increased patrols in the border area and pickets on all routes.—Reuters