Pakistani diplomats in Afghanistan missing since Friday

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

Two Pakistani diplomats have gone missing in Afghanistan, officials have confirmed on Sunday.

Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Nafees Zakaria's confirmed the diplomats serving at the consulate in Jalalabad city, of the Afghan province of Nangarhar had gone missing since Friday.

The Foreign Office said the diplomats were on their way towards the Torkham-Landi Kotal crossing point between the two countries.

"Pakistan has requested to the Afghan government that all efforts be made to ensure early recovery of our officials and bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice," the Foreign Office statement said. Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor Nangarhar province, told Anadolu Agency investigations had begun to assess the situation.

A number of militant and criminal groups operate in and around the area between Jalalabad and Peshawar, of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but no one has so far claimed responsibility for the latest incident.

Last year, a former Afghan governor, Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi, was recovered from Pakistan’s Mardan district two weeks after he was abducted in the capital Islamabad.*Islamuddin Sajid contributed to this report from Pakistan.