WANA, Nov 4: Two suspected Al Qaeda men were killed in a shootout with Pakistan security forces on the border with Afghanistan on Tuesday.

A third suspect managed to escape into the Paktia province of Afghanistan, official said.

The official told Dawn that three armed men attempting to sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan were spotted and signalled to stop by Pakistan troops patrolling the Angor Adda area near the Boundary Pillar No 29 in the semi-autonomous tribal region of South Waziristan.

The three men, however, opened fire on the troops. “Our forces responded with fire,” deputy administrator of Wana, Mr Rehmatullah Wazir, said.

Two terrorists were killed while the third escaped into Afghanistan, Mr Wazir said. He said the bodies had been moved from a local military camp to see if they could be identified. “But from their looks, they appear to be neither Pakistani tribesmen nor Afghans. They looked like foreigners,” he said.

The official said that the security forces recovered a light machine-gun, a pistol and a video camera from their possession.

Meanwhile, the authorities recovered a missile hidden in the woods in Angor Adda. Mr Wazir insisted the two incidents were unrelated. “There is no connection,” he said.

Officials, however, suspect the missile was aimed at a nearby US military base in Shkin in Afghanistan.

JIRGA: The deputy administrator held a jirga with Qarikhel and Yargulkhel tribesmen in an effort to persuade them to surrender three fellow tribesmen wanted for sheltering suspected Al Qaeda militants in Baghar village.