ISLAMABAD (Agencies)
Suspected Taliban militants have released Pakistan's envoy to Afghanistan, more than three months after he was kidnapped in Pakistan's Khyber tribal region, a senior government official said on Saturday.
Envoy Tariq Azizuddin was heading to the Afghan capital Kabul with his driver when he disappeared in the troubled Khyber tribal district bordering Afghanistan on February 11.
The state-run Pakistan television, quoting unnamed sources, said "the ambassador has been recovered safe," but did not provide details.
His brother Tahir Azizuddin said that authorities have told the family the ambassador has been released, is in good health and would likely reach home soon.
On a video aired April 19 on Dubai-based AlArabiya all-news channel, Azizuddin said Taliban militants had kidnapped them.
Scores of people have been kidnapped in the dangerous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent years and the ambassador's disappearance highlighted continuing instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan -- a key ally in the U.S.-led crackdown on militants. |
