Gunmen in North Waziristan released a journalist they had held hostage for two months, a local official and residents said Thursday.
Masked and carrying guns, the kidnappers abducted Rehmatullah Darpakhel on August 11, in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan.
“Rehmatullah Darpakhel has been freed and has returned home. He was freed unconditionally,” Mohammad Amin, a government official in Miranshah, told AFP.
His release was brokered by tribal elders and on Wednesday Darpakhel was welcomed home by hundreds of tribesmen firing into air, a local tradition in times of celebration, residents said.
In August, the UN human rights commissioner urged Pakistan to investigate a spate of killings and disappearances of journalists, including that of Darpakhel.
Darpakhel comes from the same village, Dandey Darpakhel, where local officials said a US drone strike on Thursday killed a logistics commander in the Haqqani network and three other militants.
