DUBAI, Feb 19 Al Qaeda's wing in North Africa published photographs on the internet on Thursday of four of six western hostages it says it has in its custody.

Earlier this week Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed in an audio tape aired on Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera that it had a Canadian UN envoy and his aide and four western tourists who were kidnapped in the West African Sahara in December.

A posting on Islamist websites on Thursday showed three separate images of what it said were a Swiss couple, a German woman and a British man, surrounded by men bearing rifles.—Reuters

Editorial

Updated 01 Aug, 2026

Maritime alliance

AS the US-Iran war drags on, new battle lines are being drawn. The pro-US Gulf Arab monarchies and Iran have enjoyed...
01 Aug, 2026

Local governance

INTERIOR Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s speech at a business summit on Thursday has stirred a hornet’s nest. His...
01 Aug, 2026

Murders in Balochistan

GOOD news is scarce in Balochistan. Seven labourers were abducted and gunned down in Turbat city recently. Four...
31 Jul, 2026

Expanding conflict

WITH neither of the belligerents willing to back down, and the theatre of conflict expanding geographically, the...
31 Jul, 2026

Spoils and spats

A FIGHT over assembly seats in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has laid bare what seem to be some deep resentments between ...
31 Jul, 2026

Unfair tax system

THE disclosure that the FBR collected nearly Rs1.9tr in sales and income taxes through electricity bills over the...