LANDI KOTAL, Dec 28 Armed kidnappers struck again on Sunday by abducting two recently returned Afghan pilgrims from Jamrud, sources said.

Family sources said that Haji Yar Mohammad and Haji Wazir Said had just returned to Peshawar by a PIA Haj flight from Saudi Arabia on Saturday after performing Haj.

After spending a night in Peshawar, the two were on their way to Afghanistan via Torkham when they were abducted by unidentified gunmen from Teddi Bazaar in Jamrud tehsil and also took their vehicle.

Jamrud political administration confirmed the abduction of Afghan pilgrims and said that they had registered a case upon the complaint of the relatives of the two abducted men.

NEPALESE HELD Khasadars arrested three Nepalese in suspect condition in Jamrud tehsil. Officials said that Chena Lal, Bampresh and Paresh Parsad had entered Khyber Agency without the permission of political administration and also could not explain the purpose of their entry into tribal areas during initial investigation.

The three arrested Nepalese were lodged at Jamrud lockup for further investigations.

BODY FOUND In Bara sub-division of Khyber Agency the local Khasadar force found a bullet ridden body of a Lashkar-i-Islam activist. The dead man was identified as Saida Jan. No body has so far claimed responsibility for his killing. Family sources said they had no enmity with anyone.

EPI EMPLOYEES At least 174 employees of EPI programme in Fata have threatened to boycott the forth coming polio vaccination if their salaries are not paid to them before the start of New Year.

Addressing a press conference in Bara on Sunday the EPI employees contented that they were working with the EPI programme on ad hoc basis from Global Alliance Immunisation Vaccination (GAIV) fund from the year 2002 to 2006.

They said that none of them were paid their salaries for the last seven months nor the government had so far regularised their services.

They said that their colleagues in NWFP had been regularly receiving their salaries but they were deprived of the same for unknown reasons.

They said the services of a number of their colleagues who were hired in 2002 in NWFP and other parts of the country had also been regularised.

They threatened to completely halt the polio vaccination throughout Fata if the authorities concerned failed to adhere to their demands till the end of this year.