Abducted Chinese national freed in Pakistan
August 23, 2015The Chinese man, identified as Hong Xu Dong, was freed by military commandos, according to officials in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
"He is safe now," Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said. "We will hand him over to the Chinese embassy soon."
The minister said an intelligence-based operation conducted by commandos had led to the freeing of the man, and that it was preceded by more than a year of effort by the government, but gave no further details.
The Chinese man was kidnapped last May near the western city of Dera Ismail Khan by militants linked to the Abdullah Bihar group of the Pakistani Taliban.
He had been cycling through the troubled area at the time he was kidnapped.
Lucrative abductions
The Taliban in Pakistan has kidnapped a number of foreigners and wealthy Pakistanis over the years to fund their activities, but it is unusual for Chinese to be targeted.
There are more than 10,000 Chinese citizens working in Pakistan on Chinese-funded energy and infrastructure projects.
The Pakistani Taliban are allied to, but separate from, the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. They are seeking to establish an Islamic state in their country.
tj/bw (Reuters, dpa)