Kidnapped ex-ISI men, British journalist’s release unlikely: Afghan Taliban commander

ISLAMABAD - Two former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials and a British journalist who went missing in North Waziristan Agency earlier this month, are unlikely to be released by their captors, who believe the former ISI sleuths had been spying on them.

Two former ISI officers, Colonel (retd) Imam and Squadron Leader (retd) Khalid Khwaja and journalist Asad Qureshi, went missing in North Waziristan, where they had been working on a documentary on the Taliban.

Qari Ziaur Rehman, an Afghan Taliban commander, confirmed that the trio was not in the captivity of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, but one of the scattered groups of the Pakistani militants, either the Punjabi Taliban or any other group.

Rehman said the captors of the trio believe that they had succeeded in smashing a network that had been spying on them.

He also said that different groups of the Afghan Taliban made hectic efforts for the release of the kidnapped men, but the captors did not oblige them.

“All the efforts made by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Afghan Taliban) to secure release of the two former ISI officials and the British journalist have failed,” The News quoted Qari Ziaur Rehman, a Taliban commander in Kunar.

“The Taliban commander said the Punjabi Taliban groups, including the one led by Ilyas Kashmiri, were extremely annoyed with the two former ISI officials, particularly Khalid Khwaja, because they believed that they played an important role in the arrest of all their operatives and leaders by the Pakistani authorities,” he added. (ANI)