Afghan envoy’s daughter was not ‘kidnapped’

Minister says conspiracy being hatched by New Delhi and Kabul to defame country

PAKISTAN:

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Tuesday maintained that the daughter of Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan was never kidnapped and it was a conspiracy hatched by Kabul and New Delhi to defame the country.

"Investigation into the incident that occurred with the daughter of the Afghan ambassador has proved to not be an abduction or kidnapping," the interior minister said during a news conference in Rawalpindi.

“Pakistan is facing an unannounced international hybrid war by elements who want to malign the country and destabilise its relations with China and Afghanistan,” he added.

Afghan Ambassador Najibullah Alikhil’s daughter, Selsila Alikhil, was allegedly kidnapped and later released on Friday in Islamabad by unidentified people. She was allegedly subjected to torture during her detention.

Rashid further said the Islamabad police had reviewed over 700 hours of footage from 300 cameras installed on the travelling route of the Afghan ambassador's daughter and interviewed over 200 citizens.

"All four taxi drivers have no criminal record," he said.

"The Afghan ambassador and his daughter should join the investigation process for the logical conclusion of the case as an FIR was lodged on her complaint," the minister added.

Rashid said nefarious designs prepared by the country's enemies would be foiled and Pakistan would continue its journey towards development under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The minister added that peace in Afghanistan was necessary for peace in Pakistan.

“We will continue its efforts to establish peace in the neighbouring country [Afghanistan] without interfering in its internal affairs.”

The minister further assured that full security was being provided to all foreign diplomats.

To a question, he said the government planned to make the diplomatic enclave in Islamabad a special security zone after Eid holidays.

Referring to the Dasu incident, the interior minister said the Chinese government had expressed satisfaction over the investigation being carried out by Pakistan to find out the culprits.

Nine Chinese nationals and four Pakistani citizens were killed and more than two-dozen others suffered injuries on Wednesday when a shuttle bus they were travelling in plunged into a deep ravine after an explosion on board.

The bus was ferrying the Chinese and Pakistani workers to an under-construction tunnel site of the Dasu hydropower project in the remote Upper Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

"India is trying to reshape the narrative and trying to create a misunderstanding between China and Pakistan. World powers don't want Pakistan and China's relations to be strong. The unannounced hybrid war against Pakistan is being intensified as Imran Khan is an emerging leader of the Muslim Ummah."

The minister pointed out the events ahead of which the latest attacks in the country were carried out.

"The Johar Town blast took place a day before the FATF meeting, the Dasu incident took place before the GCC [China-Gulf Cooperation Council] meeting and the incident of the daughter of the Afghan ambassador's took place before the Afghan conference."

He said the attacks were a conspiracy to make the world think that there was a problem of law and order in Pakistan. "Hybrid warfare against the country would intensify in coming days.”