At gunpoint: 11 tribesmen kidnapped by militants

Kurram Agency tribesmen recovered from Daradarh on Saturday.

PESHAWAR:

Khan, a driver, had no idea what the day had in store for him. He thought he would drive the people in his Toyota pickup to their destination and his work would be done.

That, however, did not happen.

Around 8am on Saturday, militants surrounded Khan’s pickup and held his passengers, 11 Shinwari tribesmen, hostage in the Masho Peky area within the jurisdiction of the Badhaber police station.

Khan was then asked to leave by the abductors. They wanted him to go back and inform the families that their men had been kidnapped and if they wanted them back, the families would have to pay up.

While talking to The Express Tribune, an official from the police station said that the militants arrived in two vehicles, took the Toyota and everyone inside to Khyber Agency’s Akka Khel which is adjacent to where they were.

Discussing details of the abducted, the policeman said they were from the Shinwari tribe and shopkeepers by profession who were residing in Masho Khel. He added that they ran shops on Kohat Road and were on their way to attend to work when the incident took place.

According to the police, Yar Muhammad, one of the passengers aboard the pickup, managed to escape by jumping out of the vehicle and injuring himself in the process. He told the police that some of the men who had been in the vehicle were his relatives.

“We know for sure that at least nine people were taken away as their relatives have approached us,” he said. “But the real number could be higher.” He added that this was not the first time people had been abducted from the area. In the past around a dozen employees of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company were kidnapped from the vicinity.

According to the police official, there were several routes linking Akka Khel, of Khyber Agency to the settled district of Peshawar and militants often used those to infiltrate the area. This, he added, is what helps them escape unnoticed.

“We are looking into the case but there is little we can do where Khyber Agency is concerned,” he said.

An FIR was registered against unidentified militants at the police station by Yar Mohammad and his relative Khair Mohammad. No group had taken responsibility of the incident till the filing of this report.

In Kurram Agency

Two tribesmen of Central Kurram Agency, who were allegedly kidnapped by unidentified persons in Daradarh area of Lower Kurram Agency a day before, were recovered on Saturday. An official of the political administration said that two tribesmen identified as Sharif Chamkani and Hamad Chamkani, residents of Para Chamkani, were allegedly kidnapped by unidentified persons on Friday.

with additional input from Our Correspondent in Kurram Agency.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2014.