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Swiss hostages recovered in Pakistan: Army - 16 Mar 2012
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Life in captivity: Swiss hostages describe Taliban kidnap ordeal
Say they spent months in a ‘sort of prison’ near Miramshah.
Say they spent months in a ‘sort of prison’ near Miramshah. PHOTO: AFP
GENEVA: Two Swiss former hostages who escaped their Taliban captors in March after eight months in North Waziristan told a newspaper on Sunday of their ordeal, giving a rare glimpse into the torn region.
As well as providing the first details of their escape, the couple painted a depressing picture of life in captivity, where their guards spent hours watching suicide-attack videos and fantasised about getting blown up by US drones.
Olivier David Och, 32, and Daniela Widmer, 29, were abducted July 1 while on holiday in Balochistan. They were returning by road from a trip to India. They said they spent months in a “sort of prison” near the market of Miramshah, in North Waziristan.
Och, a police officer from Bern, said the army staged a full-on attack the night of November 7, pummelling Taliban positions with artillery fire and strafing nearby houses from helicopters.
They stayed on Lala’s farm for the rest of their captivity.
“You could hear the drones all the time,” Widmer said. “By day, they’d fly high and sounded like lawnmowers. At night, they flew lower and you could hear them rumble.”
Conditions on the farm were better and the guards were not as vigilant. The couple stayed with Lala’s family, including his wife, step-daughter and six children.
“We ate the same as the family – unleavened bread, five or six potatoes with oil and salt,” said Och, who lost 22 kilogrammes in captivity.
Every two weeks, they were visited by Lala’s boss, who “figured high on the US list of people to kill. He slept in our room near Lala – the drones could have picked him off at any time,” Och said.
This senior Taliban member told them of the state of negotiations and that the Taliban were demanding a ransom of $50 million.
“We knew no one would pay that much,” Och told the newspaper. So they decided to try to escape. They stole two grenades and ran into the night.
“Better to die fighting,” Och said. “If they’d followed us we’d have used them.”
They wandered lost for hours before finding a military checkpoint. They said their ordeal did not end then and they were subjected to “painful episodes” they did not discuss.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2012.
Reader Comments (21)
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Thankless people………. they didn’t even thank Pakistan army for whatever they did for them……… instead a tricky “SUBJECTED TO PAINFUL EPISODES” was all they got from them…………
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Would love to read the book that they are going write once back home. Great escape though.
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This is certainly not a normal human behavior by any means: “their guards spent hours watching suicide-attack videos and fantasised about getting blown up by US drones.”
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What are the ”painful episodes” he’s talking about?
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@SaQiB Maybe they actually were subjected to painful episodes! How would you know what they’ve been through?
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People are worrying about guards watching suicide videos, but aren’t concerned about drone attacks these hostages were experiencing all day and night…….People only see their side of the story.
And why on earth they were on vacations at such a place in Pakistan where Pakistanis don’t go themselves for vacations???
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@SaQiB: “Thankless people………. they didn’t even thank Pakistan army for whatever they did for them”
What exactly did Pakistan army do for them according to you?
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@SaQiB: They escaped on March 15 and clearly they have ben held back in Pakistan for close to 2 monthshttp://tribune.com.pk/story/350392/taliban-release-swiss-hostages-in-pakistan-army/
Possibly because it is usually explaine dthat any gora in Pakistan must e a CIA agent. TO be held back for 2 months by Pak security agencies after 8 months of Taliban captivity must undoubtedly have been painful
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I donot believe they were under the captivity of TTP. If true they would not have come out. This story have been concocted to parallel the story of Yvoune Ridley who eventually embraced Islam because of the good behaviour of Afghan Taliban. Since the only thing common between these two is the word Taliban therefore no body in the west even in Pakistan’s Liberal Intelligentsia will pay heed to this difference and the story will be accepted with propagated representation of the name Taliban.
Lets wait for thier next story that might contain the details of the painful episodes which have been withheld in this session since the material is under preparation.
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…Now what would be a vacation without… any suspense and little adventure… and that too at
Balochistan..Recommend
vacation in Baluchistan? A former policeman. Things are all nice and green!
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@ayesha_khan:
Well, in times when even the bengali cricket team refuses to visit pakistan, despite assurances of deputing heavy security contingents……… i wonder what this couple was doing…… first in Pakistan and then in Balochistan……… (and that too on recreation??) Would u go to balochistan on recreation these days??? maybe they really were agents!! now if u like projecting ur side of the picture, why can’t I do the same for mine……. whats the fuss all about???
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@ayesha_khan:
oh and plz do read the last 2 lines of the original release story (the web address of which u have pasted in ur reply)………. the swiss govt advised its citizens against un-necessary travel to Pakistan in 2008……… I wonder if they couldn’t read or hear the news……….. n plz also let me know of the source where u got that they were kept in Pakistan for 2 months………
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holiday in balochistan? sure
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Thank god they are free !! About time the west kicked these (you know who) people out!!!
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@SaQiB
Is this a bad joke? These people were kidnapped and forced to escape and find the Pakistan military on their own — why would you say “thanks” for that? Your military is suppose to free these people not just give taxi service.
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They are gonna make millions with the book now
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@ashar: Good behaviour of afghan Taliban, ur right but this was pakistan Taliban the people who strap bombs on themselves and blow evryone around them in mosques,markets everywhere. !@#$%^&Recommend
@Hassan:
You think so? Indeed they would need the money to pay the debts. The Swiss tax-payers weren’t amused that the nation had to bear all the expenses occurred and insisted the two had to pull their weight. All the negotiations had cost over one million Swiss francs.
But the way, do you really believe that they did manage to escape?
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welcome to Pakistan
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Don’t believe a word of what they say. Where is the evidence ?
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