Chinese telecom engineer kidnapped in Pakistan three months ago still languishing in captivity

An injured Chinese telecom engineer kidnapped along with his colleague, guard and driver from Dir Lower is still in the captivity of the Swat chapter of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Long Xiao Wei got his leg fractured when he and his colleague, Zhang Guo, attempted to escape from the custody of militants on October 17 while being shifted from one place to another. Zhang Guo succeeded in escaping and reached a security checkpoint from where an Army helicopter airlifted him. Long Xiao fell off a mountain during the abortive attempt to escape, which fractured his right leg. The guard, Imran, and driver Khalil were freed on September 15.

Long Xiao is still with the militants. After more than a month, his leg has not healed fully and the militants’ doctor has been looking after him. However, militants’ sources said that they had no intention to harm the kidnapped Chinese.

The sources said they had not reached any deal for the Chinese so far, though they had been holding negotiations for the release of the engineer. The talks were, according to the sources, being held between the central leadership of the TTP and the Chinese authorities. The sources denied any contact with the government despite the latter’s claim to be making hectic efforts to secure the release of Long.

Before the escape of Zhang, the militants had presented tough conditions for the release of the two foreign engineers, picked up from Khall area of Dir Lower on August 29 while they were returning from a tower site at Khariri village. The conditions also included the release of 136 militants besides some others.

The government has not been able to recover the engineers from militants operating in Swat, where the security forces have been facing problems on account of tough resistance from the battle-hardened militants commanded by Maulana Fazlullah. The militants have intensified their attack against the forces and the so-called un-Islamic businesses and even expanded the terrorist activities to Mingora, the district headquarters of the valley that had a relatively peaceful atmosphere.