Unidentified gunmen kidnapped three more people in Khyber Agency where the political administration began a crackdown against tribesmen to rescue PakistanÂ’s ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azizuddin.The envoy went missing on his way to Afghanistan on Monday, and television reports said local Taliban had abducted him to trade him for their arrested commander Mansoor Dadullah. An official told Daily Times that the political administration arrested 12 men from the Jandakhel sub-tribe in Jamrud subdivision and impounded eight vehicles.
Landi Kotal Assistant Political Agent (APA) Ahmad Khan Aurakzai told Daily Times there was no ‘operation’. Asked which part of the agency was being focused on, he said: “Search is underway all over the Khyber Agency.”
Sources told Daily Times that
NWFP Governor Owais Ghani said Tariq Azizuddin had not been taken outside Khyber Agency and would soon be rescued because of “significant information” the government had received. He was talking to reporters after the convocation of the City University on Thursday.
Tribesmen protest: Meanwhile, tribesmen from the Jandakhel tribe blocked the Peshawar-Torkham road to protest against what they called unlawful arrests of men from their tribe under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The tribesmen blocked the road at the Kata Pushta area near Prang Sam post. They warned of more protests if the administration did not release their men and stop the operation in their area.
Tariq Azizuddin had gone missing on his way from Peshawar to the Torkham border crossing on Monday when he lost contact with authorities in the Khyber Agency. The Khyber Agency political administration had said it was not informed Azizuddin would travel on the route. Reports said his vehicle was found in Landi Kotal. Geo television reported on Wednesday that local Taliban had claimed they had abducted him and would release him in return for Taliban commander Mullah Mansoor Dadullah.
Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told reporters on Wednesday that the government had not received any formal information indicating that Taliban had claimed responsibility.