July 01, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 26, 1429

PARACHINAR, June 30: Tribesmen took 30 paramilitary soldiers hostage in Piwar area of the Kurram agency on Monday.

According to sources, a convoy of the Frontier Corps was going from its base in Parachinar to Tari Mangal when Turi tribesmen blocked the main road and captured 30 FC personnel.

The tribesmen suspected that some of the persons wearing FC uniform belonged to their rival Mangal tribe.

But officials said the kidnapped persons were paramilitary soldiers going to their posts on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Political Agent Azam Khan told journalists that a jirga had been sent to the area to secure release of the soldiers.

Residents of Piwar and Tari Mangal have been fighting for four months and the administration has been unable to resolve the dispute.

Ali Akbar Turi, head of the local jirga, said 28 of the kidnapped persons belonged to the rival Mangal tribe.

He said the administration should inform elders before transporting members of the rival tribe.

Situation in the area has been tense since the recent attack on a convoy and killing of 12 hostage drivers in Sadda.