( dpa ) - Security forces were searching Sunday for two Pakistani workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who went missing the previous night in the volatile western border region on their way to Afghanistan.
The ICRC's office in Islamabad lost contact with the workers, who were escorting a food convoy to the Afghanistan capital of Kabul, around 7 pm Saturday evening, said Marco Succi, the committee's spokesman in Islamabad.
"They were on their way to the border; contact was lost on the way," he said, adding that he could not rule out the two national staffers were abducted.
"Authorities in the Northwest Frontier Province have been notified and are searching," Succi said. "They are making contact with their local contacts" to learn whether the pair were abducted.
He said the ICRC had not been contacted by anyone claiming to have the pair.
The convoy was travelling through the Khyber Pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where armed Islamic militants including elements of Taliban and al-Qaeda are known to operate.