A Chinese engineer taken hostage in Pakistan seven weeks ago escaped from his Taliban abductors and found his way to an army post, the military said Friday. The Taliban said one of two Chinese hostages they were holding had gone missing, while the other had been severely injured in the escape bid."How severely injured?"
"We chopped his head off."
The men had gone missing, along with their local driver and a security guard, on August 29 in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border, where officials said they had been checking an installation.
Pakistan has been under severe pressure from the Chinese government, long one of its most imporant allies and strategic counterweight to arch-rival India, over the hostages, with Beijing publicly requesting that Islamabad rescue them. "One Chinese engineer has been recovered," Pakisani Army spokesman Colonel Nadeem Ahmad said, without giving further details.
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told AFP the second hostage was injured before he was re-captured. "Last night an incident happened after which one Chinese engineer was hurt and the other went missing," Khan said.
A separate Taliban source said the hostages were being moved from one location to another when they made an escape attempt. He said that the re-captured man had severely injured his leg falling down a steep mountain slope. "They were near the town of Matta in the Swat Valley when they made a run for it," he said.
Pakistani Army officials who declined to be identified by name said the man who escaped had come into contact with local anti-Taliban tribesmen who then guided him to a nearby army post.
The Taliban have demanded that the government release 122 fighters captured in the area during the ongoing military operation.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari completed a four-day state visit to China on Friday, though it was unclear if the fate of the hostages was discussed.
The local driver and security man were released soon after they were kidnapped. Islamic militants have been known in the past to target Chinese workers in Pakistan. China is one of Islamabad's closest allies as well as its largest arms supplier.