
As security forces searched for Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan after he disappeared with his driver and guard while travelling by road through a volatile tribal region, police today said that two officials of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) had also been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in the same area.
“The PAEC officials, Ziaullah and Bisaat Khan, were kidnapped yesterday by unidentified armed men in Sheikh Badin area adjacent to the Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan districts,” said local police chief Akbar Nasir.
Both officials were on a routine visit to conduct a survey for mineral exploration in the mountainous area. The other abducted men include their driver Safdar and five locals.
The abduction of the PAEC officials came on the same day as the disappearance of Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan.
Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin, feared kidnapped by criminals or militants operating along the border with Afghanistan, lost contact with authorities Monday morning.
He was heading to Kabul from Peshawar when he went missing, said Mohammad Naeem Khan, the spokesman for the Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul.
“We tried to contact him and his phones were not responding. We do not know what happened and where it happened,” Khan said.


