MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan: Suspected militants armed with rockets, grenades and automatic weapons abducted some 400 students, staff and relatives driving away from a boy's school in a troubled tribal region in northwest Pakistan yesterday, police and a witness said.

The brazen abduction came amid rising militant violence in Pakistan's tribal belt - actions the military says are aimed at distracting it from its offensive against the Taliban in the nearby Swat Valley.

Details were still emerging yesterday about the nature of the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility.