November 29, 2007	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 18, 1428

LANDI KOTAL (Khyber Agency), Nov 28: Tribesmen on Wednesday kidnapped a Turkish national from the Torkhum-Peshawar highway. Iimmigration officials identified the man as Mr Bayran and said that he had valid documents and came from Afghanistan. They said that a visa had been issued to him after necessary questioning.

A Khasadar was assigned to accompany him to Peshawar.

Officials said that the Turkish man had hired a taxi at Torkhum.

The taxi and its driver were later found in the Jamrud area, officials said. The car and the driver were shifted to Jamrud tehsil offices. Fazal Samad, an employee of the Landi Kotal Agency Headquarters Hospital, who saw the man being kidnapped, said that four armed men had stopped the car at gunpoint.

The Khasadar, Janzeb, tried to resist but he was thrashed and his rifle was snatched. The injured Khasadar was taken to a hospital in Landi Kotal.

Kidnappers were later seen jumping out of their car and fleeing towards the nearby hills, Mr Samad said.

The local administration cordoned off the area and a number of Khasadar parties were combing the area for the missing man, kidnappers and their car.