PAKISTAN: Pakistani Taliban in Afghanistan have kidnapped more than 30 Pakistani boys who had mistakenly crossed the unmarked border from the country’s lawless northwest, officials said on Friday.

They said the incident took place on Thursday after the group of boys, aged between 12 and 18, left the Gharkhi area of Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal region during celebrations marking the Muslim Eid holiday.

“These boys inadvertently crossed into Afghanistan while picnicking on the second day of Eid and were kidnapped by militants,” senior local administration official Syed Nasim told AFP.