Pakistan again claims ‘no evidence’ on abduction of Afghan envoy’s daughter

Pakistan has again said there is no evidence the Afghan ambassador’s daughter was abducted and assaulted in Islamabad last month.

Silsila Alikhil, the 26-year-old daughter of Afghan ambassador Najibullah Alikhil, was allegedly abducted, held for almost five hours and assaulted by unidentified men in Islamabad on July 16.

Two days later, the Afghan government recalled its envoy and senior diplomats from Islamabad and closed its embassy over security concerns.

A four-member team of Afghan investigators arrived in Islamabad on August 1 and wrapped up their probe on Sunday.

They have not yet released details around their findings but the Pakistan foreign ministry said on Wednesday in a statement that their findings do not match the details lodged by the complainant.

Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, Spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement: “We have seen the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement and the complainant’s video.

“It is once again highlighted that the visiting delegation was given a comprehensive briefing on each aspect of the complaint.

“The delegation was informed that the technical data (geo-fencing) matched with the actual movement of complainant on the day contrary to statement of the complainant, which was further confirmed by the statements of the taxi drivers.

“On the basis of the complete investigation, the delegation was informed that the complaint did not corroborate the findings on the ground,” Chaudhri said.

According to him, the Afghan delegation was further requested to facilitate access to the complainant “and the official of the Embassy and phone data, as already requested on 18 July 2021.”

“It is hoped that the Government of Afghanistan would cooperate in expeditious provision of the earlier requested information,” Chaudhri stated.