Afghan official abducted in Pakistan is released

ISLAMABAD – An Afghan official abducted in Pakistan last October has been freed by his captors and returned home.

Qazi Mohammad Nabi Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, was kidnapped while visiting a doctor in the Peshawar, near the border. No one has claimed the kidnapping, and it’s unclear who abducted him.

Ahmadi is a member of the Hezb-e-Islami party of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former warlord who fought in the 1990s civil war and recently made peace with the Kabul government.

Zardasht Shams, Afghanistan’s deputy ambassador in Islamabad, said Saturday that Ahmadi had rejoined his family in Kunar. He said the official’s brother, Habibullah, who was also abducted, remains missing. The family has been approached for ransom, but it’s unclear whether any has been paid.