Militants release kidnapped Pakistani journalist

[News_Editor]

Militants release kidnapped Pakistani journalist

2011-10-14 06:00:22 GMT+7 (ICT)

PESHAWAR (BNO NEWS) -- Militants on Wednesday released a senior tribal journalist who they had held hostage for two months in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, local media reported on Thursday.

Rehmatullah Khan Darpakhel, who was kidnapped by unknown armed militants from North Waziristan Agency on August 11, was released on Wednesday night. He was shopping at a bazaar in Miranshah, the main town of North Waziristan, when a group of armed men with covered faces blindfolded and abducted him, The Nation newspaper reported.

Soon after his kidnapping, authorities directed the political administration of North Waziristan Agency to take all possible steps for the safe release of the tribal journalist. In addition, journalists in the area had staged protest demonstrations seeking the release of their colleague.

Other details about Darpakhel's release were not immediately known.

Several journalist groups have labeled Pakistan as one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous, place for media professionals. According to the Rural Media Network, a Pakistani non-governmental organization, at least 13 journalists have been killed in Pakistan this year alone.

Most notably this year, the Pakistan Bureau Chief of Asia Times Online, Syed Saleem Shahzad, was found dead in northeast Pakistan in late May. Human rights organizations and the U.S. government have accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency of carrying out the murder, although the Pakistani government rejected those accusations.

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