Militants kidnap 100 tribesmen in northwest Pakistan

Peshawar: Hours after kidnapping 100 tribesmen in northwest Pakistan, the militants today released most of them after security forces launched an operation to rescue them.

According to local media reports, several tribesmen were kidnapped from the opium and hashish selling grand fair in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency yesterday. The militants also took away hundreds of kilogrammes of cannabis and hashish from the area, said reports quoting sources. Security forces conducted a search operation in the area to rescue the kidnapped men. Later, the militants released all of them except 7-10. Reports said that the release of the abductees was made possible through the efforts of tribal elders. A lush green forested, snow-bound valley, Tirah has long served as one of the smuggling routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan and is approximately an hour`s drive away from Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.