Pakistani border guards arrested seven suspected followers of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network today as they tried to cross into Afghanistan, a government official in the area said.
He said two were Sudanese, one Ugandan, one Mauritanian and three Pakistani. They were arrested in the Kurram tribal area in northwestern Pakistan.
The suspects were sent to Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, for interrogation by authorities, the official said.
Kurram is close to the areas of eastern Afghanistan where US-led forces have recently fought intense battles against the militants of al-Qaeda and Afghanistan's vanquished Taliban movement.
Pakistan, an ally of the US-led coalition against terrorism, has deployed thousands of army and paramilitary troops on the border to check for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants trying to enter the country.