LAKKI MARWAT: Aba Shaheedkhel Qaumi Jirga has threatened to launch agitation if the government fails to secure the release of kidnapped workers of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission within three days.

The jirga met here at School Ground in the Dallokhel area with Inayatur Rehman in the chair.

Lakki tehsil council chairman Shafqatlah Khan Khoidadkhel, former district councillor Irfanullah Khan, PTI Lakki tehsil president Dr Mohammad Iqbal, ANP district general secretary and neighbourhood council chairman Engineer Latifullah Khan, Liaquat Ali Khan, relatives of the kidnapped employees and elders from various clans participated in the jirga.

Speaking on the occasion, the elders expressed concerns over delay in safe recovery of the kidnapped employees. “Despite lapse of around two weeks, there are no visible signs of the release of kidnapped workers,” they said.

They alleged that a lack of seriousness on the part of the government delayed the recovery of employees. They said that they would sever the gas pipeline passing through the district if the kidnapped workers were not released.

They also threatened to close the main entry of the Qaboolkhel project site and boycott upcoming anti-polio drives.

Meanwhile, relatives of the kidnapped employees and some elders called on Deputy Commissioner Zeeshan Abdullah at his office on Tuesday.

They told him that the incident caused unrest among locals. They said that local authorities should expedite their efforts for the safe release of kidnapped workers.

It is pertinent to mention here that on Jan 9, armed men kidnapped 17 private PAEC workers along with their driver when they were going to the project site located at Qaboolkhel area in a private coach.

The kidnappers later abandoned the coach and set it on fire in the forest along the Kurrum River. After the incident, police and security forces launched an operation and freed eight workers, three in injured condition, from the captors.

During the last 10 days, several videos purportedly showing the hostages appeared on social media wherein the kidnapped workers could be heard as appealing to the government to accept the demands of their captors to secure their release.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2025