PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): Suspected Taliban militants have abducted a Wolesi Jirga candidate in the Baghlan-i-Markazi district of northern Baghlan province, the governor said on Sunday.
Abdul Hai Nimati told Pajhwok Afghan News Taliban gunmen abducted Zalmay Zaheer when he was visiting his farmland in Khwaja Khan village.
The governor said: “The abducted candidate has been in a dispute over land with his nephews who have links with the Taliban”.
But the mediation delegation had been told by the Taliban that they kidnapped Zaheer for his candidacy, the governor said.
However, a tribal elder, who wished to go unnamed, told Pajhwok Eng. Zaheer had been abducted by the Taliban for contesting the Oct elections.
He said influential figures had visited the Taliban to negotiate Zaheer’s release, but so far they had received no positive response.
The Taliban have not yet commented in this regard.
pk/ma
