Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: Abductors have given their conditions for release of 31 passengers in their captivity in southern Zabul province, said an official source on Sunday.
Hamidullah Tokhi, a lawmaker from Zabul, in an interview with Radio Azadi said that efforts are on to secure safe release of the abducted passengers.
Unidentified gunmen stopped two buses in Shahjoi district of southern Zabul province on gunpoint and kidnapped 31 passengers of the Hazara ethnicity around a month ago.
Tokhi said that tribal elders are negotiating release of the kidnapped passengers with the abductors.
“One of the negotiators told me on condition of anonymity that the abductors demand release of their imprisoned comrades in Kabul and Kunduz provinces,” he added.
Thokhi said that he was confident that the kidnapped persons are alive and hoped that they will be released soon. He added that people of Zabul province will spare no efforts to secure safe release of the abducted passengers.
This came at a time that the second deputy to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hajji Muhammad Mohaqiq, the other day said that the government is negotiating release of the passengers with different groups. He said that some of the passengers have been released.
However, Abdul Qadir Qalatwal, another MP from Zabul, said that no passenger has been released so far. He added that efforts are on to secure release of the passengers.
