Tariq Azizuddin

Last updated

Tariq Azizuddin was Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey. He was ambassador to Afghanistan when he was taken hostage by terrorists from the Tehrik-i-Taliban on Monday February 11, 2008. [1] [2] Tariq was traveling, by road, from his home in Peshawar, to Afghanistan's nearby capital, Kabul. His vehicle was stopped by gunmen and he was taken hostage along with his driver Gul Nawaz and bodyguard Amir Sultan in Pakistan's Khyber Tribal Agency, prior to passing through the border crossing at Torkham. [3]

The Taliban released a video to the Arab satellite channel al-Arabiya TV on April 19, 2008. [4] [5]

On May 16, 2008 his brother Tahir Azizuddin announced that Tariq was safe and had been freed. Nawaz and Sultan were also freed. [6] Pakistani authorities denied that Tariq's release was the culmination of a negotiated deal. [4] [7] [8] [9] Nevertheless, the BBC , the Pak Tribune, and the Asia Times all reported there had been a prisoner swap.

The Asia Times article asserted there was a deal—with Baitullah Mehsud. [8] The Asia Times article stated that 55 militants were released, and that a payment of 20 million Pakistani Rupees was paid. The Asia Times article named Mufti Yousuf and Muslim Dost as two of released militants The Asia Times article reported that Maulana Abdul Aziz was expected to be released soon. The Asia Times article reported that negotiations stalled over the kidnappers demand that Mullah Obaidullah be handed over, and the 20 million rupee payment was in lieu of his release.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism in Pakistan</span>

Terrorism in Pakistan, according to the Ministry of Interior, poses a significant threat to the people of Pakistan. The wave of terrorism in Pakistan is believed to have started in 2000. Attacks and fatalities in Pakistan were on a "declining trend" between 2015 and 2019, but has gone back up from 2020-2022, with 971 fatalities in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician)</span> Pakistani politician

Fazal-ur-Rehman is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F). He is also the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a coalition of political parties which ousted then prime minister Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion in 2022. He was a member of the National Assembly between 1988 and 2018, and the Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. He is a supporter of the Taliban government in Afghanistan and has demanded for its international recognition. In the 1980s, he was part of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), which was formed to end the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Obaidullah Akhund</span> Taliban politician (c. 1968–2010)

Mullah Obaidullah the Akhund was the Defence Minister in the Afghan Taliban government of 1996–2001 and then an insurgent commander during the Taliban insurgency against the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai and the US-led NATO forces. He was captured by Pakistani security forces in 2007 and died of heart disease in a Pakistani prison in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa</span> Armed conflict involving Pakistan and armed militant groups

The insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also known as the War in North-West Pakistan or Pakistan's war on terror, is an ongoing armed conflict involving Pakistan and Islamist militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundallah, Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), TNSM, al-Qaeda, and their Central Asian allies such as the ISIL–Khorasan (ISIL), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Movement, Emirate of Caucasus, and elements of organized crime. Formerly a war, it is now a low-level insurgency as of 2017.

Kidnapping and hostage taking has become a common occurrence in Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Kidnappers include Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters and common criminal elements.

Fazal Hayat, more commonly known by his pseudonym Mullah Fazlullah, was an Islamist militant who was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, and was the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in Swat Valley. On 7 November 2013, he became the emir of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and presided over the descent of the group into factions who are often at war with each other. Fazlullah was designated by the Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee of the Security Council in 2015, and was added to the U.S. State Department's Rewards for Justice wanted list on 7 March 2018. Fazlullah was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kunar, Afghanistan on 14 June 2018.

Events from the year 2008 in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lashkar-e-Islam</span> Islamist terrorist organization in Pakistan

Lashkar-e-Islam, also written as Laskhar-i-Islam, is a Deobandi jihadist terrorist group operating in Khyber District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan and the neighboring Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghanistan–Pakistan relations</span> Bilateral relations

Afghanistan–Pakistan relations refer to the bilateral ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In August 1947, the partition of British India led to the emergence of Pakistan along Afghanistan's eastern frontier, and the two countries have since had a strained relationship; Afghanistan was the sole country to vote against Pakistan's admission into the United Nations following the latter's independence. Various Afghan government officials and Afghan nationalists have made irredentist claims to large swathes of Pakistan's territory in modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistani Balochistan, which complete the traditional homeland of "Pashtunistan" for the Pashtun people. The Taliban has received substantial financial and logistical backing from Pakistan, which remains a significant source of support. Since the Taliban's inception, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency has been providing them with funding, training, and weaponry. However, Pakistan's support for the Taliban is not without risks, as it involves playing a precarious and delicate game. Afghan territorial claims over Pashtun-majority areas that are in Pakistan were coupled with discontent over the permanency of the Durand Line, for which Afghanistan demanded a renegotiation, with the aim of having it shifted eastward to the Indus River. Territorial disputes and conflicting claims prevented the normalization of bilateral ties between the two countries throughout the mid-20th century. Further Afghanistan–Pakistan tensions have arisen concerning a variety of issues, including the Afghanistan conflict and Afghan refugees in Pakistan, water-sharing rights, and a continuously warming relationship between Afghanistan and India. Nonetheless, the Durand Line witnesses frequent occurrences of suicide bombings, airstrikes, or street battles on an almost daily basis.

Mufti Yousuf is a citizen of Pakistan and an alleged Taliban leader and spokesman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistani Taliban</span> Islamist militant organization operating along the Durand Line

The Pakistani Taliban, officially called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current leader is Noor Wali Mehsud, who has publicly pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban share a common ideology with the Afghan Taliban and have assisted them in the 2001–2021 war, but the two groups have separate operation and command structures.

The 2009 Jamrud mosque bombing occurred on 27 March 2009, in Jamrud in the Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas during Friday prayers. The local police immediately claimed a casualty count of 48 while adding that the death toll could reach as high as 70. A hundred wounded were also taken to hospital. It was reported that about 250 worshippers were present during prayer time.

The Nizam-e-Adl Regulation was a controversial act, passed on April 13, 2009 by Government of Pakistan that formally established Sharia law in the Malakand division. PPP-led central government passed the bill after a coalition partner ANP government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa negotiated the peace deal with outlawed Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Black Thunderstorm</span> Military operation

Operation Black Thunderstorm was a military operation that commenced on April 26, 2009, conducted by the Pakistan Army, with the aim of retaking Buner, Lower Dir, Swat and Shangla districts from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan after the militants took control of them since the start of the year.

Azam Tariq or Rais Khan was a spokesperson for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the fourth-highest ranking commander in the group. The TTP chose him as its spokesman after his predecessor, Maulvi Umar, who was detained by Pakistani authorities in August 2009.

This is a list of known foreign hostages in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Zarb-e-Azb</span> Joint-military operation involving Pakistan against armed insurgent groups

Operation Zarb-e-Azb was a joint military offensive conducted by the Pakistan Armed Forces against various militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, al-Qaeda, Jundallah and Lashkar-e-Islam. The operation was launched on 15 June 2014 in North Waziristan along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as a renewed effort against militancy in the wake of the 8 June attack on Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, for which the TTP and the IMU claimed responsibility. As of 14 July 2014, the operation internally displaced about 929,859 people belonging to 80,302 families from North Waziristan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Peshawar school massacre</span> Tehrik-i-Taliban terrorist attack on the Army Public School and College in Peshawar, Pakistan

On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The terrorists, all of whom were foreign nationals, comprising one Chechen, three Arabs and two Afghans, entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren ranging between eight and eighteen years of age, making it the world's fifth deadliest school massacre. Pakistan launched a rescue operation undertaken by the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group (SSG) special forces, who killed all six terrorists and rescued 960 people. In the long term, Pakistan established the National Action Plan to crack down on terrorism.

On 20 January 2016, four terrorists opened fire at Bacha Khan University near Charsadda, Pakistan. It is located in the Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. At least 22 people were killed and over 20 others were wounded. Over 200 students were rescued from the premises, while the terrorists were killed by security forces. The Tariq Geedar Afridi faction of the Tehrik-i-Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

On 16 April 2022, the Pakistani military conducted predawn airstrikes on multiple targets in Afghanistan's Khost and Kunar provinces. Afghan officials said the attacks killed at least 47 civilians and injured 23 others. Initial reports described the attacks as either rocket strikes or aerial strikes carried out by a number of aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force, and Afghan officials claimed the operation was carried out by Pakistani military helicopters and jets. Pakistani officials initially denied Pakistan carried out the airstrikes, but Pakistani security officials later claimed the airstrikes involved drone strikes from inside Pakistani airspace, and that no aircraft were deployed. Some reports said the Pakistani airstrikes also targeted parts of Paktika Province.

References

  1. ↑ "Pakistani ambassador goes missing". BBC News. February 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  2. ↑ "Pak envoy to Afghanistan goes missing: Believed to have been abducted in Khyber Agency". Pak Tribune. February 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  3. ↑ "The News International: Latest News Breaking, Pakistan News". www.thenews.com.pk.
  4. 1 2 "Afghans free foreign contractors". BBC News. May 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  5. ↑ Eric Schmitt, Tim Golden (May 17, 2008). "U.S. plans $60 million Afghan prison on military base". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-17. The brother of Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan says the envoy has been released, three months after he was kidnapped near the border between the two countries. Tariq Azizuddin disappeared on Feb. 11 along with his driver and bodyguard.
  6. ↑ "'Mujahedeen' release Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan".
  7. ↑ "Kidnapped ambassador freed: Taliban claim Mulla Obaidullah, others swapped for Tariq Azizuddin; govt denies deal". Pak Tribune. May 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  8. 1 2 Syed Saleem Shahzad (May 20, 2008). "Pakistani militants savor a sweet deal". Asia Times. Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-20.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ "Afghanistan: Pakistani Ambassador Released By Kidnappers". Radio Free Europe. May 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.