A Swiss couple abducted by the Taliban from Zhob in Balochistan and held captive for over eight months were flown back to Islamabad on Thursday, after they were found from an area in the militant-infested North Waziristan Agency.
Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 28, were abducted at gunpoint on July 1, apparently on holiday. Security officials said they were found at a checkpost in North Waziristan, but the nature of their release was clouded in mystery and there were claims that they escaped. “They are safe and sound,” army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP. “They told us that they escaped and then they reported to our checkpost. That’s what they told intelligence agencies currently debriefing them.” The Taliban claimed the abduction in July, demanding that they be exchanged for Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist jailed in 2010 in New York for the attempted murder of US government agents in Afghanistan.
But the details surrounding the couple’s recovery were unclear. The Swiss embassy refused to comment when contacted by AFP and senior Taliban commanders could not be reached. Officials said the Taliban released the couple in Spilga village in North Waziristan, but they were not able to say whether any ransom had been paid or demands from the Taliban had been accepted.
However, Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter told a news conference in Bern that the couple had escaped and that no ransom was paid. Burkhalter praised Och, a policeman from Bern, and his partner Daniela, who he said showed “great courage” and were free. The foreign minister said “no ransom was paid” for the couple as Switzerland does not pay to free hostages. In October, a video emerged of the couple — apparently in relatively good health — flanked by four masked gunmen pointing rifles at their heads.
Wali-ur Rehman, deputy head of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, had claimed the kidnapping, telling AFP in July that they were in “a very safe place” and that they were “completely in good health”. According to visas stamped in their passports, the Swiss couple arrived in Pakistan from India on June 28. The pair entered Balochistan from Punjab province and may have been heading for Quetta, possibly en route to Iran, officials in Islamabad have said. Their blue Volkswagen van was found abandoned in Loralai district, around 170 kilometres (100 miles) east of Quetta.
They appear in almost perfect physical and emotional health after eight months of captivity and were able to escape. Certainly no ransom was paid!
If someone believes that tthe couple in question made a Rambo Style Break from the Afghan strangle hold & managed to get away? Think twice!
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