Wolesi Jirga to summon interior minister in relation to abduction of passengers in Zabul

Wolesi Jirga will summon the interior minister in relation with the abduction of 31 passengers in Zabul.

Unidentified gunmen in southern Afghanistan, Shah joy district of Zabul province stopped two buses last week traveling to the capital, Kabul, and abducted around 30 people belonging to the ethnic Hazara minority.

The identity of the abductors has been reported as Taliban or Daesh group that all wore black clothing and black masks; however no group have claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The fate of the missing passengers is unknown so far.

Head of internal security commission of Senate criticized security forces action in connection with the incident, saying Afghan Special Forces and Afghan army should be used for the release of the 31 passengers.

Mirdad Nijrabi, Head of internal security commission of Senate said, “If the passengers not released as soon as possible, the interior minister will summon to Parliament by the opening of Wolesi Jirga.”

One of the Parliament representatives attributed the incident to those groups who want divisions between Afghan ethnics.

“There is the possibility that some of the region intelligences once again want divisions between the Afghan people.” Abdul Qadir Qulat Wal, member of parliament said.

This comes as Security forces late Monday launched a major operation to locate and rescue the 31 passengers from the clutches of their abductors in southern Zabul province.

According to Zabul chief of police, at least 32 members of Islamic State (IS) group have been killed in the operation so far. But he had no further information about the passengers.

Meanwhile some sources said that the passengers have been abducted by the help of Chechens and LeJ group, a banned militant group ‎in Pakistan that has been widely accused of killing Hazara and Shiite Muslims in the country.

Afghan presidential citadel and the executive office declined to comment about the incident.

In addition, by refusing to provide more details about the incident, the interior ministry said efforts are underway to secure the safe release of the abductees.

Abduction of the passengers has raised concerns among those who travel through Kabul-Kandahar Highway. A number of passengers said the highway was not safe to travel following the incident. They urged the government to not only release the abducted passengers but also beef up security at the highway.

Hazara community is one of the communities on the front line of battle with violent extremism in Afghanistan.
Reported by Nasrat Parsa