JNN 13 Aug 2011  ISLAMABAD — Unidentified men kidnapped a U.S. national from the Pakistani city of Lahore early Saturday morning, police and neighbors said.

Senior Superintendent Police Investigation, Abdul Razaq Cheema, said a group of nearly 10 persons forcibly took the U.S. national from his residence at the Model Town area of the city.

Police identified the man as “J.E. Warner”, who they said was working on a development project in the country’s tribal areas, where Pakistani troops have been battling insurgents for years.

A US Embassy spokesman said they were trying to confirm the reports.

Neighbor said that unidentified men arrived in two vehicles around 4 a.m. local time, entered the house and took the American with them. A neighbor told reporters that the gunmen also beat the guard at the main gate. He said he had never seen movement of the people at the residence of the U.S. citizen and only employees and guards would arrive for duty.

“Two of the assailants came from the front gate while about six others used the backdoor. They tortured the guards and then took the American with them.”

Hussain said Warner, in his 60s, had been living in Pakistan for five to six years. He mostly lived in Islamabad but had been travelling to Lahore.

The police officer said that all guards and servants have been taken into custody and are being questioned.

No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Cheema said police are investigating motives behind the incident and have collected evidences.

Senior police officers arrived at the scene after receiving information and Cheema said policemen were deployed on the city’s exit points to foil the attempt of taking the American man out of Lahore.

A U.S. undercover agent, Raymond Davis, had shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore in February, which had caused deep rift in relationship between the intelligence agencies of the two countries.Davis action unearthed the suspected U.S. intelligence network in Pakistan, and Pakistan’s spy agency ISI asked the CIA to provide information about its agents in the country.