17 picnickers kidnapped, taken to Afghanistan

BARA: The Afghan Taliban are alleged to have kidnapped 17 tourists from Inzaro Nao tourist spot  in the Adilkhad hills, Landikotal tehsil of Khyber Agency, that shares border with Afghanistan, officials and tribal sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said 17 local people, mostly children, had gone to Inzaro Nao for picnic. The tourists were picnicking near a water spring when several gunmen came from Afghanistan’s side and seized them. Seventeen of the abducted tribesmen were identified as Ajmal, Kamran, Rahatullah, Wasif, Shafiullah, Abdullah, Abdul Wahid, Ayazullah, Bismillah, Abu Bakr, Hazrat Noor, Naik Noor, Ayub Khan, Muslim Shah, Zahirullah, Bashir and Ikram Saeed.

An official of the political administration told The News on condition of anonymity that 14 children and four elderly persons from the Adilkhad village in Landikotal had gone to the hilly area for picnic. 

He said the youngsters were busy preparing food when several gunmen came there and took them away at gunpoint. The official said one of the kidnapped persons identified as Mehraban managed to escape while being taken to Afghanistan and reached his home in Landikotal.

Quoting the escaped person, he said the gunmen were the Afghan Taliban who took away the tourists towards Afghanistan at gunpoint. The official said that paramilitary troops, Khassadars and Levies force personnel reached the spot to hunt down the kidnappers. An attempt was made to talk to the members of the family of the kidnapped persons but nobody was ready to speak about the incident.

However, they said that security forces and political administration were using means to ensure the safe and early recovery of the abducted persons. Neither the Afghan Taliban nor any other militant group claimed responsibility for the incident.