KABUL, Afghanistan: A prominent doctor was kidnapped and killed in northern Afghanistan, his family said Saturday.
Mohamed Nader Alemi was abducted two months ago in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, and his kidnappers demanded a ransom for his release, his son Roheen Alemi said. The family eventually paid them $350,000, after negotiating down their initial demand of more than twice that, he said.
Despite the payment, the kidnappers then killed Alemi, leaving his body in the street, his son said. They called the family and told them where to find it on Friday, he said.
“My father was badly tortured, there are signs of harm on his body,” Roheen Alemi said.
Alemi, a psychiatrist, worked for the government’s provincial hospital in Mazar-i-Sharif. He also owned a private clinic, said to be the city’s first private psychiatric clinic.
Under the previous, US-backed government, crime swelled, including frequent kidnappings for ransom, which prompted several businessmen to flee Afghanistan. The abductions have continued since the Taliban seized power on Aug. 15, though with lower frequency.
The Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khosty, said Taliban forces arrested eight suspected kidnappers who were behind the abductions of three people, including Alemi, in Balkh Province, where Mazar-i-Sharif is located. He said two of those abducted were rescued but that Alemi was killed before the rescue. Police were searching for two associates of the eight arrested men who were believed to have killed the doctor.
“The Islamic Emirate is committed to find and punish the perpetrators,” he said, using the Taliban name for Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Taliban-run Finance Ministry announced that all government employees will be paid a three months’ salary, which had been unpaid since the Taliban takeover. The lack of pay for government workers has been one factor fueling a spike in poverty in Afghanistan amid a crumbling economy.
US special representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, responded to an open letter sent earlier this week by the Taliban foreign minister to the American Congress. In the letter, Amir Khan Muttaqi said American sanctions on the Taliban are fueling the economic crisis and urged Congress to release billions in Afghan assets.
West said in a series of tweets that the Taliban had been warned that non-humanitarian aid to Afghanistan would be cut off if the insurgents seized power militarily rather than reaching a negotiated settlement.
Legitimacy “must be earned” by establishing an inclusive government and respecting the rights of women and minorities, “including equal access to education and employment, he said. West added that the US is providing $474 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan through UN agencies.
Prominent Afghan doctor kidnapped, killed in northern city
https://arab.news/r7zwv
Prominent Afghan doctor kidnapped, killed in northern city
- Mohamed Nader Alemi was abducted two months ago in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif
- Despite the payment, the kidnappers then killed Alemi, leaving his body in the street, his son said
Pakistani fighter jet crashes in Jalalabad, pilot captured: Afghan military, police
- Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday
- Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar
JALALABAD: A Pakistani jet has crashed in Jalalabad city and the pilot captured alive, the Afghan military and police said Saturday, with residents telling AFP the man parachuted from the plane before being detained.
"A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive," police spokesman Tayeb Hammad said.
Wahidullah Mohammadi, spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan, confirmed the Pakistani jet was downed by Afghan forces "and the pilot was captured alive".
The AFP journalist heard a jet overhead before blasts from the direction of the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which sits on the road between Kabul and the Pakistani border.
Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday, following overnight clashes as the international community expressed increasing concern about the conflict and called for urgent talks.
Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar, in one of the deepest Pakistani incursions into its western neighbor in years, officials said.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, who it claims are waging an insurgency inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban denies.
Pakistan described its actions as a response to cross-border assaults, while Kabul denounced them as a breach of its sovereignty, saying it remained open to dialogue but warned any wider conflict would result in serious consequences.
The fighting has raised the risk of a protracted conflict along the rugged 2,600-kilometer frontier.
Diplomatic efforts gathered pace late on Friday as Afghanistan said its foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, spoke by telephone with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan about reducing tensions and keeping diplomatic channels open.
The European Union called for both sides to de-escalate and engage in dialogue, while the United Nations urged an immediate end to hostilities.
Russia urged both sides to halt the clashes and return to talks, while China said it was deeply concerned and ready to help ease tensions.
The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks by the Taliban, a State Department spokesperson said.
Border fighting continues
Exchanges of fire continued along the border overnight.
Pakistani security sources said an operation dubbed “Ghazab Lil Haq” was ongoing and that Pakistani forces had destroyed multiple Taliban posts and camps in several sectors. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
Both sides have reported heavy losses with conflicting tolls that Reuters could not verify. Pakistan said 12 of its soldiers and 274 Taliban were killed while the Taliban said 13 of its fighters and 55 Pakistani soldiers died.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said 19 civilians were killed and 26 wounded in Khost and Paktika. Reuters could not verify the claim.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said “our cup of patience has overflowed” and described the fighting as “open war,” warning that Pakistan would respond to further attacks.
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a speech in Khost province that the conflict “will be very costly,” and that Afghan forces had not deployed broadly beyond those already engaged.
He said the Taliban had defeated “the world, not through technology, but through unity and solidarity,” and through “great patience and perseverance,” rather than superior military power.
Pakistan’s military capabilities far exceed those of Afghanistan, with a standing army of hundreds of thousands and a modern air force.
In stark contrast, the Taliban lacks a conventional air force and relies largely on light weaponry and ground forces.
However, the Islamist group is battle-hardened after two decades of insurgency against US-led forces before returning to power in 2021.
