Pakistan confirms abduction of two Czech female tourists

It said it has been in contact with the abducted women´s relatives.

Earlier today, the Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Johana Grohova said Czech diplomacy has registered the reports about the abduction of the two Czechs and the Czech embassy in Pakistan has taken steps to verify the information.

The Pakistani media say the police are trying to find and free the Czech tourists who were abducted in the southwestern Baluchistan province near the Iranian border on Wednesday.

The two women were reportedly going on a mini bus, accompanied by a local police officer, when the incident occurred. The kidnappers have reportedly taken them to Afghanistan.

No one has claimed responsibility for the abduction for the moment, the media wrote.

Baluchistan´s Interior Minister Akbar Hussain Durrani told the AFP press agency on Wednesday that the women entered Pakistan from Iran. They are Czechs and have come to Pakistan as tourists, he said.

The Pakistan Times daily writes today that the Pakistani police sent rapid reaction units to search for the abducted tourists and try to free them.

The AP agency today writes, citing a Pakistani official, that the gunmen, reportedly eight to ten of them, have taken the Czech tourists to the neighbouring Afghanistan.

The tourists had crossed the Iranian-Pakistani border at the Taftan crossing, on the road linking east Iranian Zahedan with Quetta, the administrative centre of Baluchistan.

The gunmen halted the mini bus near Kundi, a village situated about 120 km far from the border.

Kidnappings are no rarity in Baluchistan. The perpetrators are mostly bandits who demand money for releasing the hostages. Sometimes the kidnappers are Islamist rebels linked to Taliban and the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz