LANDI KOTAL, June 23: Armed men attacked three checkposts on the main Peshawar-Torkham highway in the Khyber Agency on Sunday night and kidnapped 17 personnel of the Khasadar Force.

Officials confirmed the kidnapping and said the Khasadars deployed at the checkposts had been caught unawares by the blistering attacks at midnight.

Militants blew up the main gate of the newly-built Hawaldari checkpost, near Jamrud, after the Khasadars refused to open it. At least four Khasadar personnel were injured in the explosion.

The officials said the militants had attacked Prang Sum, Shahgai and Hawaldari checkposts on the highway and kidnapped 17 Khasadars.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but a local official accused the men of Hazrat Nabi alias Tamanche Mula, a firebrand cleric in Landi Kotal, of attacking and kidnapping the Khasadars.

The 35km-long Peshawar-Torkham highway, the main supply route for international forces in Afghanistan, has become insecure after the kidnapping of Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin, his driver and guard on Feb 11.

Several militant groups have intensified their patrolling of the route and last week they threatened to disrupt oil and aid supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan.

Forty-two tankers carrying fuel for US and Nato forces were blown up near Torkham on March 23, two World Food Programme officials were kidnapped on April 21 and an army vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb on May 20.

Opinion

Editorial

Canal politics
Updated 20 Apr, 2025

Canal politics

The consequences of the state taking decisions without regard for its people can be seen yet again in the form of widespread restlessness and anger.
Lesser citizens
20 Apr, 2025

Lesser citizens

CAN the state ever turn the dream of communal harmony into reality? A slew of injustices torment Pakistan’s...
Winning spree
20 Apr, 2025

Winning spree

AFTER sealing qualification for the ICC Women’s World Cup, Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana immediately set her sights...
Deadlocked
Updated 19 Apr, 2025

Deadlocked

Politicians’ refusal to talk to each other and resolve issues has created space for a different type of rulership to take over.
Trump vs Harvard
19 Apr, 2025

Trump vs Harvard

AMONGST the ‘enemies of the people’ in Trumpian America are elite universities seen as the bastions of liberal...
External account stability
19 Apr, 2025

External account stability

DRIVEN by a major spike in workers’ remittances last month, the country’s current account posted a record ...