MINGORA, Dec 4: Afghan warlords have demanded millions of rupees as ransom for the release of those Pakistani and Arab fighters, who have been arrested and kept in prisons in different parts of the war-torn country.

At least 50 people hailing from the upper parts of the Dir district have sent messages to their families to pay the amount saying that otherwise their lives were at stake.

A newsman, talking to this correspondent on telephone on Tuesday, quoted the parents of those missing as saying that the majority of the Pakistani volunteers had been imprisoned in the Bagram, Baghlan, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif and other areas.

It was reported that Jalil, resident of Sharingal and Aziz Ahmad of Karachi had written letters to their parents to get them freed by paying the ransom amounting to Rs600,000. The message had reportedly been conveyed by an Afghan national.

The people have been told that after the payment, they would be able to receive the held persons in a hotel in Peshawar, Bangash hotel.

When contacted, spokesman for Tehrik-i-Nefaz-i-Shariah Muhammadi (TNSM), Malakand division, Mohammad Abdullah, confirmed the reports and said that the ransom had already been paid for the release of some men belonging to Swat.

He, however, did not disclose names of the warlords and the prisoners, expressing the fear that it could jeopardize the lives of the imprisoned volunteer fighters.

Mr Abdullah said that the matter of the detained people should be taken seriously by the government.  

Criticizing the role of the United Nations, he charged that the UN did not fulfil its responsibilities to get the people freed from the prisons in Afghanistan.

The TNSM’s contacts with the leaders of Afghan factions were intact and that the prisoners would hopefully be freed in a couple of days, he claimed.

The spokesman disclosed that the tribal ulema had  assured them of making efforts for the release of TNSM leader Maulana Sufi Mohammad. However, he said, the party would concentrate on the release of the volunteers imprisoned in Afghanistan.

It was learnt that about 1,000 people from the Malakand division were languishing in prisons in Afghanistan.