KALAYA, May 15 Militants ambushed a convoy being escorted by security forces and kidnapped 37 passengers, women and children among them, in Toor Ghar area of Hangu district on Saturday. Two international news agencies, however, put the number of the kidnapped at 60.

According to officials, the convoy carrying passengers and goods was going from Peshawar to Parachinar, the Kurram Agency's administrative headquarters, when it came under attack on the Thall-Parachinar road near a checkpoint manned by Levies and Frontier Corps.

An official said the attackers first punctured the tyres of some vehicles and then took the passengers hostage. He said the kidnapped persons hailed from upper and lower Kurram.

A police official in Thall tehsil, however, expressed ignorance about the kidnapping of passengers.

Kurram has been cut off from the rest of the country and by road travel from Kurram to Peshawar is not possible without an escort of security personnel. For the last three years travel between the two places is being done via Afghanistan.

The incident took place at a time when efforts were underway to restore peace in the area.

Militants frequently attack convoys in Toor Ghar range, a hilly track between Thall and Chappari. The area is part of the Hangu district and has become a stronghold of militants.

Over 150 passengers have been killed and more than 200 wounded in bomb blasts and ambushes in Toor Ghar since the administration partially opened the main road to traffic.

Agencies add The militants were dressed as policemen and first seized a vehicle belonging to the government power utility in the Kurram region and kidnapped four people travelling inside. The vehicle was set on fire.

Shortly afterwards, they seized several other vehicles and kidnapped 60 people.

Officials initially said 30 people were kidnapped, but later said 57 people had been taken from the convoy.

“The militants were posing as policemen and wearing police uniforms,” said Mir Chaman, a senior police official in the nearby town of Thall.

The hostages in the Kurram region included women and children, though it was not clear how many, Mr Mir said.

Details of the kidnapping were sketchy and Mr Mir said police were trying to trace and recover the hostages, who were all believed to be Pakistanis.

Robberies and kidnapping for ransom are common in the militant stronghold of Kurram, which borders Afghanistan and the Orakzai Agency.

Government officials in Kurram confirmed the incident and said efforts were under way to recover the kidnapped people.

A large number of militants, officials say, have fled to Kurram and neighbouring regions after the military launched a major operation in South Waziristan in October last year.The militants have carried out a wave of suicide and bomb attacks in tribal areas, killing hundreds of people.