Two ICRC workers go missing in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Two Pakistani workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have gone missing in a tribal region of northwest Pakistan close to the Afghan border, an official of the agency said on Sunday.

The pair disappeared on Saturday as they were driving through the Khyber Pass on their way to Torkhum, a main crossing point on the border to send some things to the ICRC office in Kabul, said ICRC communication officer Sitara Jabeen.

"We're quite concerned about their fate. We're trying our best to find out what happened," she said.

Pakistan's tribal lands on the Afghan border are semi-autonomous regions dominated by independent-minded ethnic Pashtun tribesmen.

In recent years they have also become havens for al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents battling security forces in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Aid agencies in Pakistan have been attacked by tribesmen protesting against the government in recent months but in general, aid workers are much safer in Pakistan than in Afghanistan where dozens have been killed in recent years.