Pole seized in raid by Pakistan militants

SUSPECTED militants seized a Polish engineer yesterday and killed his Pakistani driver, guard and assistant in the country’s volatile northwest as security forces fought to take control of the border region.

The recent truck bombing of Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel has heightened concern about the stability of nuclear-armed Pakistan — and the safety of foreigners — as it vows to tackle rising militancy.

Even before the engineer’s kidnapping, the expatriate community in Pakistan was braced for possible instructions from the UN and embassies to send home family and nonessential staff.

Last week, unidentified gunmen abducted the Afghan ambassador-designate to Pakistan and killed his driver in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Taliban militants have confirmed they are holding two Chinese telecommunications engineers since the end of August.

Officials said armed men ambushed a vehicle carrying the Polish engineer early yesterday near the northwestern city of Attock.

Police said witnesses saw the attackers fleeing toward the troubled area of Kohat, on the edge of Pakistan’s border belt.

Zulfikar Shah, a senior police official in the area, said the getaway route as well as the killing of the three Pakistanis suggested that militants were involved.