PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has registered a terror case against “unknown miscreants” for the abduction of 17 private workers of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), officials revealed on Friday.
The workers were traveling to a project site in the Qaboolkhel area of Lakki Marwat district when gun-toting assailants stopped their private coach near Wanda Painda Khan, according to sources. They abducted the workers, took them to some unknown location, and later abandoned and burnt their vehicle in a forested area along the Kurram River.
Videos emerged on social media hours after the incident, purportedly showing the abducted workers pleading for government intervention for their release. Authorities have since rescued eight of the 17 workers, while efforts to locate the remaining victims continue.
Zakaria’s case was lodged with the CTD at Bannu by Lakki Marwat’s Saddar Station House Officer Shakeel Khan. The FIR includes charges under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including criminal conspiracy, rioting with deadly weapons, kidnapping, and mischief, along with Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act. The report states, “The terrorists are believed to have intended to strike fear and achieve their illegitimate demands”.
Lakki Marwat has long been a hotbed of terrorist activity, enduring long spells of violence that have characterised the district since the early 2000s. Earlier, violence had a lull due to intermittent operations by security personnel, but in recent times it has come back. The situation worsened after the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) decision to rescind a ceasefire pact in 2022, leading to escalated attacks on police and security.
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