At least 34 people, including 30 coalminers, were abducted by militants from the Kala Khel area of Khyber Agency early on Friday. Tribesmen said a group of militants raided the residential quarters of coalmine workers in Kala Khel and bundled the workers into a vehicle at gunpoint. The abducted people included four labourers working on a road project in the area.
The tribesmen said the militants took the hostages towards Tor Chapper area of Darra Adam Khel. At least three militants were killed and five others injured when a US drone targeted a vehicle in the Baghar Cheena area of South Waziristan Agency on Friday. Reports said a vehicle with several militants on board was hit with two missiles by the US drone. Three of the passengers in the vehicle were killed, while five were left injured in the attack.
The identity of killed and injured could not be ascertained. At least two intelligence officials confirmed the drone strike and the death toll to AFP. The dead were identified as militants who fought under a nebulous Taliban umbrella on behalf of warlord Maulvi Nazir.