Pakistani police hunt for kidnapped UN official
PAKISTAN: Pakistani police said on Tuesday they had rounded up about
a dozen people for questioning in the search for a senior U.N. refugee
agency official abducted in the city of Quetta.
American John Solecki, head of the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) office in the southwestern province of Baluchistan was
abducted on Monday after gunmen ambushed his vehicle and killed his
driver.
Attacks on foreign aid workers, company employees and diplomats have
increased in Pakistan over the past year, especially in areas near the
border with Afghanistan, where Taliban and al Qaeda militants are
battling government forces.
Thousands of foreign company employees, aid workers and diplomats are
based in Pakistan. Few companies or aid groups have pulled out of the
country, but most organisations have restricted travel to dangerous
areas.
Senior Quetta police officer Wazir Khan Nasir said about a dozen
people with criminal links had been detained for questioning in the hope
of uncovering clues to Solecki's abductors and his whereabouts.
QUETTA, Reuters
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