Int'l Red Cross employee kidnapped in Pakistan
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Xinhua, January 5, 2012
An International Red Cross employee was kidnapped by unknown people in Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta on Thursday, reported local Urdu TV channel Ary.
Immediately following the kidnapping of its employee, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Pakistan has ordered closure of its six offices across the country out of security concerns, said the report.
Deputy Inspector General Nazeer Kurd, top police officer in Quetta district, told local media that the abduction took place at about 11: 00 a.m. local time when the kidnapped was on his way to office in his car.
Khalil, a doctor working with ICRC, was kidnapped by six armed people coming in a Land Cruiser while he was close to his office, said eyewitnesses.
Police in Quetta have launched a search operation following the incident, but no clues have been found yet.
Doctor Khalil is a British national of Yemeni origin and he joined ICRC Pakistan about two years ago, said police.
Following the kidnapping of the ICRC employee, police in Quetta have beefed up the security for all the foreigners working in Quetta, said Faisal Mahmood, the top police officer in Quetta city.
According to Faisal Mahmood, the police in Quetta have tried to provide security service to the ICRC employees in Quetta, but they have refused to accept the offers.
Local watchers believe that the ICRC employee could have been kidnapped by Taliban and the chance for his survival is slim as Pakistan Taliban have just announced on Thursday the killing of 15 Pakistani security personnel they kidnapped in Pakistan's northwest Tank District last month.
Earlier in July 2011, a Swiss couple was also kidnapped near Quetta. Up till now, no one knows their whereabouts. Prior to this, in February 2008, a person in charge of the UNHCR office in Quetta was also kidnapped, but he was later released probably because of the high ransom paid to the kidnappers.
