ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to take up with Afghanistan the issue of two Czech women kidnapped from a border district of Balochistan last year and reportedly taken to Afghanistan.

The Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior was informed by Director General of the National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) Saud Aziz on Monday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would be asked to take up the matter with Afghan government.

Take a look: CM Balochistan orders recovery of kidnapped Czechs appearing in new video

The committee was told that according to a video, uploaded on Internet and later removed, the kidnappers wanted to get Dr Aafia Siddiqui released from US custody in exchange for the Czech women.

Mr Aziz said the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) had been asked to help trace the location from where the video had been uploaded and a reply was awaited.

Mr Aziz will soon visit Balochistan to meet the provincial chief secretary and officials concerned in Chaghi and submit a report to the committee in 15 days.

In an earlier brief submitted to the committee, the NCMC said the two women were in a bus which was intercepted by10 to 12 armed people, some of them in Frontier Constabulary uniform, at Alam Rek railway crossing, 15km from Nokundi.

According to the bus driver, the gunmen told him that they were from an intelligence agency and wanted to detain the women. Levies Force sepoy Nauroz, deputed for security of the women, tried to resist the armed people but was thrashed and pushed away.

The assailants forced the women into their vehicle which was seen going towards Afghanistan.

Senator Fateh Mohammad Mohammad Hasni regretted that the women kidnapped about two years ago had not yet been traced. The incident, he said, had tarnished the country’s image.

He described it as a security lapse and also raised questions about security of the Saindak copper-cum-gold project located in the area.

Motor bill cleared

The Senate committee cleared with some amendments motor vehicle (amendment) bill introduced in the Senate in April 2012 by Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Zafar Ali Shah of the PML-N.

Under the proposed legislation, a medical board will examine people applying for public transport driving licence before the processing of their applications.

Published in Dawn March 3rd , 2015

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