Abdul Rauf, a boy abducted in Balkh, was released from captivity
Taliban officials say Abdul Rauf, a 9-year-old boy abducted in Balkh about two years ago, has been released.
Enamullah Samangani, the Taliban’s deputy spokesman, tweeted that Abdul Rauf Jan was returning to the warmth of his home and family with the efforts of the Islamic Emirate’s intelligence and security services.
Abdul Rauf was handed over to his family today at a meeting in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, in the presence of Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanafi, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister.
The Taliban’s second deputy prime minister said the kidnappers who abducted Abdul Rauf had close ties to former government officials and that he had been held captive for nearly two years.
The main purpose of the Taliban deputy prime minister’s administrative visit, led by a high-ranking delegation to Mazar-e-Sharif, is said to have been to share the grief of the families of the victims of the attack on the Shiite mosque.
It is worth mentioning that Abdul Rauf was abducted in the capital of Balkh province two years ago during the Republic, and at that time the people of Mazar-e-Sharif staged mass protests to free him.
