KHYBER: Unknown armed men, suspected to be affiliated with a banned militant outfit, abducted the president of Tirah traders` association along with another tribesman from Bagh-Maidan area of the valley on Thursday.

Sources in the valley told Dawn that armed men abducted Haji Sher Mohammad, the head of local traders` body, and a tribesman, Ibrar, from the main Bagh Markaz market on Thursday afternoon, and shifted them to an unknown location.

They said that local elders and traders immediately formed a jirga to secure release of the two abducted men from the captivity of the suspected militants.

They said that the negotiations also continued on Friday with no headway achieved till filing of this story in the evening.

It was learnt from sources in the valley that a group of suspected militants had stayed for a night at the house of Sher Mohammad a day before four of these militants, including two of their ring leaders, Azizur Rehman alias Qari Ismail, and a commander, Mukhlis, were killed in an intelligence-based operation by the security forces in Bagh area of Tirah on January 25.

The sources said Sher Mohammad was abducted on suspicion of his involvement in spying on the presence of militants in his locality. However, no group has so far accepted responsibility of the abductions.