The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has abducted 16 employees of the Atomic Energy Commission. According to the media reports, the militants have released a video of the abducted staffers saying that they will be released in exchange for the release of TTP prisoners in Pakistan’s jails. The staffers were kidnapped while working for some mining projects for the Atomic Energy Commission in Pakistan’s Lakki Marwat area, a volatile region in the violence-ridden Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
The abduction happened in the Qabul Khel Atomic Energy mining project in Lakki Marwat. The vehicles that the employees were using were set ablaze by TTP militants. According to the media reports, Pakistan have mentioned that some of the victims are labourers while some are employees and staff members of the Atomic Energy Commission.
The Pakistan government has claimed that they have managed to ‘rescue’ 8 of the kidnapped persons. However, TTP has rejected the claims. In a video released by the TTP, the employees were seen requesting the Pakistani authorities to negotiate with their abductors and save their lives. The Lakki Marwat area is in the region bordering Afghanistan and has been a hotbed of TTP activities. Various instances of kidnapping and assault against Pakistani security personnel have happened in the region. The TTP kidnappings happened just a day following Baloch rebels vandalised a police station, robbed a bank and seized a government office in Balochistan.
Comments