Afghanistan ? Police and villagers hunted on Friday for 13 mine-clearing workers kidnapped in a restive part of Afghanistan less than a week after Taliban militants vowed to step up an abduction campaign.

The de-miners, all Afghans working for a U.N.-funded land mine-clearance agency, were kidnapped Thursday in eastern Paktia province on the border with Pakistan, said provincial deputy police chief Ghulam Dastager.