September 06, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 05, 1429

KOHAT, Sept 5: The tribesmen from eight villages of Sumari union council launched a force comprising 2,000 people to combat terrorism and criminals in the area on Friday.

The elders of the area declared this at a ceremony to formally announce the formation of the force attended by the district police officer, Abdullah Khan, as chief guest on Friday afternoon.

The DPO thanked them for forming the force to check crimes in the area and said that elimination of terrorism was not possible without the help and cooperation of the local people. If they stand against the militants and criminals no force in the world could challenge them.

The elders from eight villages assured the district police chief that they would not provide shelter to any militant or criminal and anybody found involved in such activity would be fined and taken to task under the local customs.

The Sumari area had become strategically very important because it was being used as an alternate route to the old Kohat-Hangu road due to sectarian tension between the villagers.

POLICE CADETS: The disappearance of 25 police cadets is shrouded in mystery as no clue to their whereabouts in the Khyber and Orakzai agencies was found on the third consecutive day on Friday.

The cadets went missing on the way to a police college in Hangu via Khyber and Orakzai agencies on Wednesday. They had hired three vehicles from Peshawar but could not reach their destination and were reportedly kidnapped by armed militants. Their drivers were released who informed the authorities about the incident.

The college administration said that vacations had ended on Tuesday and so far 120 cadets had not reported to the college. It was not clear whether they had been kidnapped or wilfully remained absent.

The administration of the Khyber Agency had said that the cadets were not kidnapped by the militants in the area. Political Agent Orakzai Agency Kamran Zeb told Dawn that efforts were being made to trace the cadets and identify the abductors but so far they were clueless.

Meanwhile, officials and pro-government tribesmen have reportedly contacted militants in Mishti, Ublan, Kalaya, Dabori, Ghiljo and other areas, where the Taliban are active. But the militants have reportedly expressed ignorance about the incident. A team has been sent to the border area of Chapri Ferozkhel tribe, situated between Orakzai and Khyber agencies, to investigate the matter.

The Taliban in Darra Adamkhel, when contacted, neither confirmed nor denied their involvement in the reported kidnapping of the cadets.

A school teacher Asif along with some other people, who used the same route through tribal areas while travelling from and to Peshawar due to closure of the Kohat Tunnel, told this scribe that the militants had established checkposts at various places. “They stop every vehicles, ask the passengers to remove their shirts and also check their identify cards. Some of the people were interrogated by the militants before allowing them to pass through the area,” a man said.