At gunpoint: Nine government employees abducted in South Waziristan

The workers were on their way to inspect Chutangi dam

DI KHAN: Nine men working for the Fata Development Authority (FDA) were kidnapped in South Waziristan Agency on Thursday afternoon.

Government officials confirmed unidentified armed men abducted nine people from the Toi Khulla area, one of the four tehsils of the Wana subdivision of South Waziristan.

The kidnapped men were on their way to inspect Chutangi dam, a small under-construction reservoir in the Zermilan area of Toi Khulla. They were travelling in two vehicles. One was taken away by the kidnappers while the other vehicle was left behind.

Three of the kidnapped men were employees of the FDA while the others were locals working for the authority on the development project. Seven of the men were identified as Akiq Bangash, Saifur Rehman, Ghafur, Shahid, Nisar, Ashiq and Wasim. The names of two drivers among those kidnapped could not be ascertained.

Toi Khulla tehsil of Wana shares borders with Balochistan as well as Afghanistan. The region is mostly inhabited by the Suliman Khel and Dottani tribes. The area remained out of the 2007 peace agreement signed between the government and Ahmadzai tribe.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2016.