Islamic militants ambushed a large convoy of military vehicles in troubled northwestern Pakistan today, kidnapping more than 100 soldiers after snatching their weapons, officials said.

The soldiers were travelling in 16 trucks and providing security for vehicles carrying food between Wana, the main town in South Waziristan and Ladha, another town in the region, according to two intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

One of the officials said preliminary reports showed that 25 soldiers were kidnapped, but updated his figure to nearly 100, while the other said there were between 100 and 120 soldiers taken.

There was no indication if there was a battle or if anyone had been wounded in the incident, they said.

“We confirm that several military vehicles were ambushed, and scores of our soldiers are missing, but we have no further details,” said an army official based near the capital, Islamabad.

The reports could not be independently confirmed because the area is remote and dangerous.

A senior intelligence official in South Waziristan said about 100 soldiers were leaving Wana by road when hundreds of militants attacked them. “Efforts are underway to trace and rescue the missing soldiers,” he said.

The hostage-taking comes two days after militants freed 18 soldiers and a Pakistani government official who were kidnapped in the same region earlier this month.

Pakistan is a key ally of the US and has deployed 90,000 troops to the region along the Afghan border, where American officials believe there has been a resurgence of al-Qaeda and Taleban militants.

President Pervez Musharraf is also facing increasing pressure from Washington to do more to secure Pakistan’s borders from insurgents crossing into Afghanistan to launch attacks against Afghan and international troops.

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