BAJAUR, April 9: The three armed Afghans arrested by the Bajaur levies near the Ghaani Pass along the Pakistan-Afghan border on Friday were shifted to the Peshawar central jail by the political administration for further interrogation.

The Afghans trying to cross over to Afghanistan from the Bajaur Agency are suspected of having links with the Al Qaeda organization.

Official sources said the suspects were heavily armed at the time of their arrest.

During preliminary interrogation, potential evidence was found that the three men had links with Al Qaeda, the source said.

A federal secret agency official identified the three Afghans as Shamsur Rehman, Wali Mohammad and Hazrat Syed.

He said that the local administration shifted them to Peshawar on the directives of the provincial home department and investigation agencies for further interrogation.

A joint investigation team will question them at the Peshawar central jail, the source said. Another source said that many activists of the Taliban and Al Qaeda network had taken refuge in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas including the Bajaur tribal agency.