Pakistani police thwart kidnap at atomic agency's camp

ISLAMABAD, Jan 15 (Reuters) Pakistani police foiled an attempt to abduct four men working for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission at a uranium exploration site, and killed three of the kidnappers in a gunfight, a commission official said today.

Unidentified gunmen barged into the commission's camp in Karak district of North West Frontier Province last night and took one officer and three technicians hostage.

''They tried to run away with our men and vehicles,'' the official, who requested not to be identified, told Reuters.

Police intercepted the vehicles a few kilometres from the site and exchanged fire with kidnappers, killing three of them.

The official ruled out the possibility of that the gunmen were trying to get hold of nuclear material as the site was in the initial stages of exploration.

REUTERS LL RAI1841