ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Taliban militants have freed two customs officials months after they were abducted in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police and local officials said on Sunday.
Pakistan Customs Superintendent Nisar Abbasi, Inspector Khushal Khan and Saif-ur-Rehman, president of a local chambers of commerce, were abducted in KP’s South Waziristan district in Feb. this year, according to Deputy Commissioner Nasir Khan.
While the kidnappers released Rehman the same day, the two customs officials remained in captivity and it took months of efforts by tribal elders and members of the Lower South Waziristan Chambers of Commerce to negotiate their release.
“The officers have returned safely after their captors let them go,” Habib Islam, a police spokesperson in South Waziristan district that borders Afghanistan, told Arab News.
“Their release was made possible through extensive negotiations involving multiple stakeholders.”
The development highlights persistent security challenges in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal districts where militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, have mounted their attacks against security forces, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials.
It also comes amid a thaw in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations which were strained by a surge in militancy in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan. Islamabad frequently blamed Afghanistan for the surge in militant activities, an allegation denied by Kabul.
However, both countries have sought to mend ties in recent months and last week announced to upgrade their diplomatic missions in Islamabad and Kabul to the ambassadorial rank.
Rehman, president of the Lower South Waziristan Chambers of Commerce and Industry who was released shortly after his kidnapping along with the two customs officials, said the kidnappers had initially demanded the government free their detained associates in return for the release of the two customs officials.
“When it became clear that the government would not meet their demands even after several months, the abductors eventually relented to tribal mediation and agreed to release the officials,” he told Arab News, adding that both officials were in good health and no ransom was paid against their release.
On Jan. 9, the Pakistani Taliban kidnapped more than a dozen workers of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), which is responsible for nuclear energy projects, from the volatile Lakki Marwat district, according to Lakki Marwat police.
Eight of the abductees were released shortly after the kidnapping, while the militants released one more and body of another hostage on Jan. 25. The fate of the remaining captives remains unknown.
Last year, the militant group had kidnapped District and Sessions Judge Shakirullah Marwat near KP’s Dera Ismail Khan district who was later recovered in a joint operation by police and security forces, officials said.
