Kabul to probe Pakistani traders’ killings

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan will investigate the killing of five Pakistani traders in the eastern province of Nangarhar last week, the country’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Gunmen had kidnapped nine Pakistani traders two months ago and killed five of them last week. One elderly trader was released, while the rest are still missing. The slain traders belonged to the Charsadda district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Their bodies were handed over to Pakistan last week.

Pakistan had summoned Afghan chargé d’affaires in Islamabad on Friday and demanded an investigation into the brutal killings.

“The Pakistani traders had travelled to the areas that were insecure,” Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad Shakib Mustaghni said during a weekly press briefing. “Afghanistan is committed and has promised to hold an investigation. The security agencies have been directed to probe the incident.” The spokesman said the results of the inquiry would be shared with Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2015.