Pakistan minister, tourists allegedly kidnapped by militants return home after 'negotiation'

Militants demanding the release of their jailed accomplices set up blockades on one of the major arteries linking Pakistan's restive provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), abducted a senior minister and several tourists, according to media reports on Saturday.

After successful negotiations, the kidnappers demanding the release of their accomplices, including those involved in the gruesome murder of foreigners in the Nanga Parbat area and other terrorist incidents in Diamer, later on Saturday released the minister, as well as the tourists, showed a video released by minister Abaidullah Baig after his release was confirmed.

The clip showed the minister saying that he was kidnapped while on his way from Islamabad to Gilgit when militants blocked the road to press authorities for the release of their accomplices from jail.

Habibur Rahman, GB’s most wanted militant commander who was accused of killing 10 foreigners in Nanga Parbat, and his accomplices blocked the road in Thak village of Chilas in Diamer on Friday around 4 pm, leaving travellers on both sides stranded, the Dawn newspaper quoted a source as saying.

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Sources said the militants were demanding the release of their accomplices, including those involved in the gruesome murder of foreigners in the Nanga Parbat area and other terrorist incidents in Diamer.

The militants have also demanded the "imposition of Islamic laws, with no women sports activities" in the province.

However, it is unclear whether or not the demands of the militants were met.

The incident surfaced as Pakistan senators from both sides of the aisle on Friday sounded an alarm over the surge in terrorist activities by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while a senator sought a briefing over a recent threat alert issued by the interior ministry about the heightened risk of terrorist attacks by the banned outfit.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani, on a point of public concern, asked Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to direct the interior minister to take parliament and the public at large into confidence about the present status of peace talks with the TTP.

The interior ministry had recently issued an alert over the increasing threat of terrorist attacks by the group or its factions after talks with the TTP broke down.