A Pakistani engineer was kidnapped on Wednesday afternoon in Afghanistan’s central Logar province, stalling work on an under-construction hospital in Pul-i-Alam, according to an official on Thursday.
Logar Crime Branch Chief Col. Mohammad Jan Abid said that the engineer was travelling to Kabul from Logar when he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen. “The abduction took place on the Kabul-Logar Highway in Konjak area while he was travelling in his personal car,” he added.
Abid said that the car was found abandoned in Baboos area near Pul-i-Alam, the provincial capital, adding that tribal elders had launched efforts to secure the engineer’s release.
A doctor in Pul-i-Alam Hospital, seeking anonymity said that construction work on the new building was stopped due to protest. He said Pakistani workers have demanded they would not resume work until the engineer was recovered.
The 300-bed hospital is being constructed by Pakistan at a cost of $ 37 million. Eighty percent of the work has been completed.