August 30, 2024
By Rehan Piracha and Ahmed Saeed
LAHORE:
Tribal elders in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, are engaged in active negotiations with a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to secure the release of four kidnapped family members, including a senior army officer. Tensions in the area heightened after videos of two captives were released, local sources informed Voicepk on Friday.
On August 28, armed militants from the TTP’s Gandapur group allegedly abducted the army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Amir, his two brothers, and their sister’s son from a mosque in Khadr Khel, their native locality in Kalachi city, approximately 60 kilometers from Dera Ismail Khan. One of the brothers holds the rank of colonel in the military, while the others work for the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra).
Local tribal elders from Kalachi are currently negotiating with the TTP faction’s leadership for the safe release of the family members, according to local reporters. The security forces have launched a search operation in the Kalachi area.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Taliban’s Gandapur faction is demanding the release of seven of their members currently detained in Pakistani jails.
On August 29, the TTP faction released videos showing two brothers, including the military officer, in captivity. In the videos, the captives stated they were “far away from government-controlled areas” and called on the government and higher authorities to meet the Taliban’s demands to secure their release. They also urged their relatives not to share information about their kidnapping on social media.
Local police have remained silent on the abductions, and no first information report (FIR) regarding the kidnapping has been shared by the district police.
Nasir Mehmood, the district police chief, did not respond to Voicepk’s requests for comment on the security breach.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media and public relations wing of Pakistan’s military, has also not commented on the abduction of its officer as of the filing of this report.
This incident follows a similar abduction in April when District and Sessions Judge Shakirullah Marwat was kidnapped by armed men near the border area of Tank and Kalachi. Marwat, who was posted in South Waziristan, was safely recovered a day later. During his captivity, a video was released in which the judge stated that his release was contingent on the government meeting the militants’ demands.
Kalachi tehsil borders Tank district and is adjacent to the South and North Waziristan districts, which share a border with Afghanistan. The TTP’s Gandapur group is believed to have links to Afghanistan, where its leader, Zarrar Gandapur, is reportedly based.
On August 29, Pakistan’s Foreign Office rejected the Afghan Taliban’s offer to mediate between Pakistan and the TTP, calling it an insult to the victims of the TTP’s terrorist activities. Pakistan has attributed the recent surge in militant attacks to Afghanistan, accusing TTP leaders of finding refuge there and operating training camps to launch attacks within Pakistan.
The Afghan Taliban government in Kabul has denied these accusations, labeling the violence in Pakistan as a domestic issue