The boys had either inadvertently wandered across the unmarked border or had been lured over according to reports and were then seized by fugitive militants.
Intelligence officials said the captors were apparently allied with Maulvi Faqir Mohammad the Taliban commander who led insurgents in Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal agency until fleeing to Afghanistan last year.
The 10 to 18-year-olds crossed from the Gharkhi area of Bajaur into Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province on Thursday.
At first 40 were seized, but those aged under 12 were allowed home the following day.
