Peshawar, Sept 3: The Pakistan unit of the Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) claimed to have kidnapped two Chinese telecommunications engineers and two Pakistanis, as a mark of protest against federal government’s attacks on militants.

They said that such abductions would continue until the government stopped attacking militants.

Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said the two Chinese engineers, their guard and driver were in the custody of his colleagues. He said the four were in good health. “Our aim is to hit the government’s interests wherever they are. We kidnap everyone irrespective of whether he’s Pakistani or Chinese and we’ll continue to do this until they stop killing our people,” the Daily Times quoted Khan as saying.

Following the kidnapping, China urged Pakistan to rescue the Chinese engineers. “We have requested that the Pakistan government rescue the two missing staff and ensure their safety,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

However, the law enforcement agencies in Dir and Swat districts were still clueless about the whereabouts of the missing.

The spokesman failed to confirm whether the missing persons were in Dir or shifted to Taliban hideouts in Swat. Locals said the two Chinese were kidnapped from Shal Plam area of Khaal in Lower Dir. (ANI)