Two Pakistani nuclear energy officials have been abducted by masked men from a troubled northwestern area near the Afghan border, police said yesterday.
The kidnappers bundled the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) workers and their driver into a vehicle in Sheikh Badin, a town in the militancy-hit Dera Ismail Khan district, local police chief Akbar Nasir said.
"They were technicians from the PAEC, they were whisked away early Monday morning," Nasir said.
The officials were on a routine visit to conduct a geological survey for mineral exploration in the mountainous area, which adjoins Pakistan's lawless tribal regions, the police chief said.
"We don't know if the abductors were militants or members of some criminal gang," he said, adding that they were believed to be from the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
"A search is underway, we are contacting local people ... We are all trying, but so far we have no clues," he said.
The abduction of the PAEC officials came on the same day as the disappearance of Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan.
Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin was on his way to Kabul from the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar when he disappeared along with his driver and bodyguard in Pakistan's Khyber tribal region.
"The search is on. We have nothing to share at the stage," Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said.
He refused to speculate on whether the missing envoy had been kidnapped.
"We don't know what happened, we have no idea," Sadiq said. "There is no confirmation he has been kidnapped."
A security official said the envoy was to change cars at the border but he did not show up and was believed to have not reached the border.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sure the envoy had been snatched.
"The Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan has been kidnapped while traveling to Afghanistan," Karzai said in Kabul, during a conference on education. "I hope he is safe and I hope he will be released soon."
The historic Khyber Pass is the main road link to landlocked Afghanistan in the northwest of Pakistan.
The Khyber region is notorious for smugglers and bandits, but unlike other parts of the tribal belt on the Afghan border it has been relatively free of the violence linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, though militant activity has picked up in adjoining regions.
Scores of people were killed late last year in clashes between tribal militants loyal to two rival clerics in Khyber.
Four Pakistani workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross went missing in the same region earlier this month. They have not been found.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS