A Swiss couple that was kidnapped in Balochistan has been moved to South Waziristan near the Afghan border, a rebel source claimed Tuesday.
Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 28, were abducted on Friday in Loralai district when they entered from the central province of Punjab planning to travel further south-west into Iran.
‘Both have been shifted to South Waziristan,’ DPA quoted a Taliban commander in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He did not say which rebel group had abducted the couple but he confirmed that they had been moved to an area controlled by a pro-government militant commander named Maulvi Nazir.
‘A demand of ransom and exchange of some prisoners is coming very soon,’ he said.
Maulvi Nazir has an agreement with the government under which he focuses only on fighting foreign forces in Afghanistan and avoids attacks inside Pakistan, sources said.
Sohailur Rehman Baloch, top civil administrator in Loralai, refused to confirm the claims that the couple was in rebel custody.
‘We are working on the case but there are no clues so far where these Swiss may be. No one has claimed responsibility and no one has demanded any ransom,’ Baloch said.
‘We believe that they might still be in the surrounding areas of Loralai and the kidnappers must be trying to move them into tribal regions. We are keeping an eye on the all exit routes,’ he added.
Baloch said the couple entered Pakistan on July 28 from India and was on its way to Iran, Turkey and back to Europe.
‘We found their credit cards and a diary where they noted their travel expenditures from a vehicle abandoned after the kidnapping’, he said
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