By Staff Reporter
Islamabad: Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants have released videos of two men, including a senior army officer, who were kidnapped from a mosque in Dera Ismail Khan, urging the government to secure their safe release, local media reported on Friday.
The officer and his two brothers were abducted from a mosque in a militancy-hit northwest region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday while mourning their father’s death. The outlawed TTP militants forcibly took away the three brothers. The TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has not publicly shared its demands.
According to the Dawn newspaper, the men, who also work for the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board and Nadra, were seen in separate videos surrounded by gunmen.
The two abducted men said they were “far away” from government-controlled areas. They were seen sitting in front of a black cloth, surrounded by gunmen with their faces cropped out.
“We are safe and far away from government-controlled areas and in the custody of the Taliban,” said captive Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Amir in a 35-second video, asking relatives not to post about their kidnapping on social media.
Amir urged the government to accept the Taliban’s demands to ensure their release.
“We request the government and higher authorities to accept the Taliban’s demands as soon as possible to ensure our release.”
The brother of the army officer, Asif Amir, a police assistant commissioner, made a similar statement and urged his relatives to pressure Pakistani authorities to secure their freedom.
The military has not commented on the incident. Reports suggest that more people were kidnapped, but this could not be verified.
Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by Islamist militants, especially those targeting security personnel, since 2022, when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban and the government broke down.
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