Militants in Pakistan released a video Sunday showing a senior judge pleading for his freedom, a day after he was taken captive in a volatile northwestern district.
In the minute-long video clip sent to journalists, Judge Shakirullah Marwat appears alone, sitting in front of a dark fabric and stating that he was taken hostage by the Pakistani Taliban on Saturday.
He pleaded with the chief justice of Pakistan to urgently meet the demands of the militants holding him “to make my release possible.” He did not elaborate further.
The Pakistani Taliban did not claim responsibility for the kidnapping, nor did they release a statement on the video.
There was no immediate response from the authorities to the purported hostage video.
VOA has not been able to independently verify the video.
Marwat was serving in the South Waziristan district near the border with Afghanistan and was traveling back to the Dera Ismail Khan district when dozens of armed men ambushed his vehicle and kidnapped him along with his driver.
Police in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the incident occurred, said that the kidnappers set the judge’s vehicle on fire and released his driver before fleeing to an unknown location.
The driver later told investigators that the kidnappers were demanding the release of their relatives and imprisoned militants, according to local police officials.
Authorities said police and counterterrorism forces had launched a joint large-scale search operation in the area but did not report any progress.
Separately, the Pakistani military said in a statement that its forces conducted an intelligence-based” counterterrorism raid in Dera Ismail Khan, killing two “terrorist” commanders in the ensuing clashes Sunday.
The Pakistan border province has recently experienced almost daily attacks on security forces and their bases by militants linked to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban.
It is rare, however, for TTP to kidnap a judge as the group claims its violent campaign is only targeting the Pakistani military and police forces.
Last week, eight Pakistani customs officials tasked to counter weapons smuggling in and around Dera Ismail Khan were also killed by suspected TTP militants in separate attacks.
Pakistan says TTP is orchestrating the deadly violence from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, charges that the neighboring country’s fundamentalist Taliban government claims are baseless.
