GHALANAI: Militants kidnapped eight khasadars (tribal policemen) late on Tuesday night at Karappa mountain, 10 km south of Mohmand Agency headquarters Ghalanai. The khasadars were on watch at the Sharmakhano checkpost when militants besieged them around midnight. The militants took them along with their weaponry to an unknown destination.The kidnapped khasadars are Subedar Bakhtawar Gul, Hawaldar Mehr Khan, jawan Hashmatullah, jawan Salauddin, Akbar Said, Ameer Nawaz, Jehangir and Taj Muhammad.
Local Taliban militants appear to be involved, sources said. The kidnapping seems to be motivated by gaining leverage to bargain with for the release of four of their comrades who were arrested in Swat while fighting against government forces in the recent anti-Maulana Fazlullah operation, they said. The strategy appears to have been given impetus by the kidnapping of around 250 soldiers in Waziristan on August 30. Over 200 of them, held hostage for more than two months, were ultimately freed in exchange for 25 militants on November 4.