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| Pakistan student convoy 'missing' | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Police in north-western Pakistan say several hundred students are missing in a tribal area near the Afghan border. | |
| Unconfirmed reports from the Taliban stronghold of North Waziristan say the students, teachers and relatives may have been kidnapped by militants. | |
| Further north, troops are tightening their hold on Mingora, the main town in the Swat valley, after retaking it from the Taliban at the weekend. | |
| In the town of Kohat, a blast at a bus terminal killed at least two people. | |
| Attack fears | |
| Reports say a convoy of about 30 minibuses carrying the students left Razmak Cadet College in North Waziristan bound for the town of Bannu. | |
| Only two minibuses turned up, police say. | |
| "Two vehicles carrying some 25 students reached Bannu, we are investigating about other students," local police chief Iqbal Marwat told the AFP news agency. | |
| According to witnesses who escaped the convoy was stopped by a group of heavily armed men. Police officials quote these witnesses as saying a large number of people have been kidnapped, although there are conflicting reports about how many. | |
| There has been a rise in violent incidents in recent days in the tribal areas next to the Afghan border. | |
| The BBC's Chris Morris in Islamabad says officials believe militants are trying to divert attention away from a major military offensive in the Swat valley. | |
| Fears of attacks by militants have increased after a military offensive against the Taliban in parts of the north-west. | |
| Sebastien Brack of the Red Cross explains what his team found in the Swat valley | Sebastien Brack of the Red Cross explains what his team found in the Swat valley |
| The militants said they had carried out a massive bombing in the city of Lahore last week and have threatened more attacks. | |
| Pakistani troops are still fighting against Taliban militants in the Swat valley, pushing northwards from Mingora, which is now under full government control. | |
| The authorities say more than 1,200 militants and about 90 soldiers have been killed since their offensive began in a neighbouring district nearly six weeks ago. | |
| There has been no official word about civilian casualties, and no independent confirmation of the military's claims. | |
| An estimated 2.5 million people have fled from the fighting, but tens of thousands who were trapped in their homes are in even greater need of assistance. | |
| 'Retaliation' | |
| The blast which killed two in Kohat, an important garrison town in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), injured at least eight others, officials say. | |
| Police say a bomb went off in a crowded bus terminal on Monday afternoon. | |
| Kohat police chief Mohammad Idrees said the attack could be retaliation for police operations against the militants, the Associated Press reported. | |
| Taliban militants were driven out of Mingora, Swat's main town, on Saturday by Pakistani government troops. | Taliban militants were driven out of Mingora, Swat's main town, on Saturday by Pakistani government troops. |
| Officials said operations in the whole Swat valley region should end in the next few days, although military chiefs are more cautious | Officials said operations in the whole Swat valley region should end in the next few days, although military chiefs are more cautious |