PESHAWAR: Eleven people were kidnapped from Faqir Kili on Saturday by suspected militants.

Peshawar SSP (Operations) Najeeb-ur-Rehman told Dawn that the kidnapped men belonged to Shinwari tribe of Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber Agency who had shifted to Peshawar about six decades back.

They were kidnapped from an area near the Frontier Road and Faqir Kili located on the outskirts of the city, close to the tribal region.

The SSP said that so far no one had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping or made any demand for their release.He said that around 12 men in two vehicles came and after surrounding the area kidnapped the people on gunpoint. The incident took place at about 8am when people were busy in their routine activities, he said, adding that policemen deployed at the Frontier Road post were patrolling the area, but people did not bother to inform them.

He said police and Frontier Constabulary (FC) regularly patrolled the suburban areas but were not allowed to enter into the tribal area, hence they could not take any action to get the people released.

A resident said that the area fell under to Mattani police who jointly manned the checkpost along with FC personnel but local people could not extend cooperation because of the fear of militants.

A source identified nine of the kidnapped people as Mohamamd Bari, Said Nazar, Gul Meran, Gulab, Haji Rahim and his sons Abdul Manan and Mohammad Hussain.

He revealed that earlier the militants had sought a volunteer from each family or payment of Rs3,000 per month. On refusal, they kidnapped the men. Since the people owned property in the area, they could not shift to safe places, although a threat had been looming since long, he said.

The affluent paid extortion regularly, while those with meagre income faced the wrath of militants, added the source.

The Khyber Agency-based militant group Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) dominates the area where the group’s flags are hoisted on an office in Akakhel. The sources said the militants belonged to the Afridi tribe and were trying to extend their control.

They said that the LI was active in the Khyber tribal region but had also its influence in the suburban parts of Peshawar with many informers and facilitators active in various villages.

Previously, anti-Taliban volunteers (Qaumi Lashkar) used to block the entry of terrorists but after receiving a cold response from successive governments, the peace activists had also stopped supporting the law-enforcement agencies, they said.

“The previous government had formed peace committees with the promise to provide them ration, arms and ammunition. The activists rendered sacrifices of life and property but the rulers didn’t keep their commitment, forcing them to abandon resisting militancy.” Meanwhile, a youth, Khyber Khan, was murdered by unknown attackers in his home in Mattani.