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Afghan consul general abducted, driver shot dead

* Six men intercept diplomat’s vehicle in Hayatabad
* Abdul Khaliq Farahi had recently been made ambassador-designate

PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen abducted Afghanistan’s consul general in Peshawar and killed his driver in a brazen ambush on Monday.

Six attackers in a black car chased the vehicle of Abdul Khaliq Farahi in Phase III of Hayatabad, forced it to pull over and shot his driver in the head, witnesses and police said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

“The driver was killed in the firing, consul general Abdul Khaliq Farahi has been abducted,” Zahir Khan Babari, an official at the Afghan consulate, told AFP.

The kidnappers were apparently aware of the Afghan diplomat’s movements, Babari said, adding: “They were waiting for him and when he came they seized him from his car.”

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said it had expressed its concerns to the Pakistani embassy in Kabul.

“We demand that the Pakistani government do its utmost to free our diplomat,” Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen told AFP.

Ambassador to Pakistan: Farahi had recently been promoted as ambassador to Pakistan, consulate official Babari said, adding that he was yet to take over the position since his papers were still with the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

The diplomat was heading from the consulate in the city centre to his home in Hayatabad when he was attacked. Interior Adviser Rehman Malik said Farahi was travelling without informing the government and police.

He told Geo News the diplomat had been taken to Jamrud and the kidnappers want to take him to Afghanistan or a remote area in Pakistan. A Foreign Office spokesman condemned the attack. manzoor ali shah/agencies

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