Kidnapped Chinese engineer located

Source: Agencies  |   2008-10-18  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

Pakistani security forces had found one of two kidnapped Chinese engineers held for seven weeks by suspected Taliban militants, the army said yesterday.

The two Chinese and a Pakistani driver and a guard were kidnapped in the Dir region of western Pakistan on August 29 while returning to a guest house after working on a telecommunications tower.

A Taliban spokesman basedin the Swat Valley, to the east ofDir, later claimed responsibilityand said the abductions would continue until the Pakistani government stopped attacks on militants.

"One Chinese engineer has been recovered by security forces," said a military spokesman. He gave no details as to how and where the man was found.

Earlier, a Pakistan television station said the two Chinese escaped from their captors when they were being moved, but one was recaptured after being shot in the foot.

The Chinese government has urged Pakistan to rescue the hostages, who worked for the Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment firm and were servicing equipment installed in the area.

Pakistani officials have said the Chinese pair disregarded advice to take a heavy security detail before traveling to Dir, which lies close to regions where Pakistani forces have been battling militants for months.

The seizure of the engineers was one of a series of high-profile kidnappings in Pakistan's volatile northwest in recent months.

On September 28, gunmen abducted a Polish oil-field surveyor near the city of Attock and killed three Pakistanis riding in the same car.

Earlier, the Afghan ambassador-designate to Pakistan was kidnapped in the regional capital of Peshawar.

No group has taken responsibility for those abductions and it remains unclear if they were held by militants or criminals looking for a ransom.

Militants have repeatedly kidnapped officials and troops, seeking to exchange them for comrades in Pakistani jails.