Peshawar: In a newly surfaced video, which went viral on Monday, four employees of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), abducted in January from northwest Pakistan, have appealed to authorities for their safe release from TTP captivity.
The video purportedly shows the hostages urging the government to meet the abductors’ demands.
One of the captives, Hafiz Bashir Ahmed, urged the authorities to take immediate steps to secure their freedom.
The captives were among 17 PAEC employees kidnapped on January 9 while en route to the Qabul Khel Atomic Energy mining project in Lakki Marwat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the abduction and released a video featuring the hostages appealing to authorities to meet the group’s demands, which reportedly include the release of TTP prisoners held in Pakistani jails.
Since the abduction, eight hostages have been rescued, three released by the abductors, and one was found dead in the Zareefwaal area of Lakki Marwat.
Another hostage was handed over to his family by the Taliban on Sunday. Four employees remain in captivity.