LANDI KOTAL, Sept 12: Unidentified persons here on Thursday torched a vehicle taking a heavy military crane for Nato forces in Afghanistan.

An official press note issued from the office of assistant political agent of Khyber Agency said that a trailer, bearing registration number JU-9912, developed a mechanical fault near Sadukhel area while on its way to Afghanistan via Torkham border.

It said that personnel of Khasadar Force were there to ward off any militant attack. Around 3:35am, some unidentified miscreants set the trailer on fire which caused partial damage to the front portion of the vehicle while, it added.

The military crane mounted on the vehicle was saved owing to timely dousing by a fire tender, which was immediately arranged by the local administration, the press note said. The miscreants managed to flee in the darkness as khasadars opened firing on them, it added.

“The assistant political agent and political tehsildar of Landi Kotal immediately reached the spot and conducted a preliminary search after cordoning off the scene of the incident,” the press note said.

Meanwhile, security forces seized huge quantity of narcotics and took into custody six Afghan smugglers along with some arms and ammunition in Loe Shalman area of Landi Kotal.

Giving details about the seizure, Lt-Col Ghazanfar Raza said that his troops were on routine patrolling of the border areas near Speena Teega in Loe Shalman when they spotted a convoy of 26 camels laden with huge quantity of narcotics coming from across the border into Pakistan via some rugged and unfrequented routes.

He said that forces cordoned off the area and took into their custody 150 rug sacks stuffed with 6,000 kilograms of contraband. Six Afghan smugglers were also arrested and a Kalashnikov, some rifles and cartridges and foreign and local currency were recovered from their possession. —Correspondent