(KUNA) Suspected Taliban militants Tuesday kidnapped four government officials from the Northern Pakistani Frontier Province (NWFP), said police. Four high-ranking government officials in an official vehicle were traveling to Peshawar, capital of NWFP, from the Dera Ismail Khan district when unknown armed gunmen kidnapped them at gunpoint, police sources told KUNA.The sources said a search operation has been launched to arrest suspected militants and secure the early release of the kidnapped officials. Kidnapping of security personnel and government employees has become routine in NWFP and bordering tribal areas. Hundreds of security personnel were released a few weeks back after militants captured them along with huge cache of arms and ammunition.
Since Lal Mosque operation in Islamabad, militants have intensified attacks on security forces and routinely target military convoys and checkposts. Officially the death toll in Lal Mosque operation was put near 103 but the opposition claimed more than 1000 students, mostly from northern Pakistan, were killed.