Wana: Taliban release kidnapped aid workers

WANA: Eight aid workers belonging to a foreign NGO have been released by the Taliban in Wana. They had been abducted in July. According to Express 24/7 correspondent Muhammad Kazim, the aid workers had been abducted from Pishin two months ago while returning from an Afghan refugee camp.

The workers, who worked at two dispensaries in the camp, were shifted to Taliban hideouts in Waziristan, from where they were taken to Wana and released on Monday night. They will be taken to Quetta and then on to Islamabad. Kazim said that some sources had told him that a heavy ransom had been paid, though officials did not confirm this.

The workers were employees from the UN-based American Refugee Committee NGO were Pakistani nationals and were returning from an Afghan refugee camp in Pishin, about 50 kilometres north of Quetta, where they were intercepted and kidnapped on Monday.

Balochistan has been witnessing a sharp rise in kidnappings and this is the fourth incident in and around Quetta in recent months. A Swiss couple had been kidnapped from Loralai and after 16 days, five officials of the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation were kidnapped from Sorange coal mines, a suburb of Quetta.

The Taliban and other militant groups have been engaged in kidnappings for ransom or as leverage to have their arrested members released. In the case of Shahbaz Taseer, the abductees have yet to set a ransom demand.

The original article can be found at Express Tribune.

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