Senior Judge Kidnapped By Armed Men In Northwestern Pakistan

A senior judge serving the South Waziristan district in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has been kidnapped by armed men.

Police official Faheem Khan said that about 15 men on motorcycles cut off the vehicle that Judge Shakirullah Marwat was riding in the Tank district of the restive province's Dera Ismail Khan region.

Khan said the assailants set fire to the vehicle and kidnapped Marwat.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Sherpao Maseed, who heads the lawyers association in the Tank district, told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that Marwat was abducted while heading home from work.

While police said the driver of the vehicle was not harmed, Maseed alleged that Marwat's driver and bodyguard were physically abused by the assailants.

Tank district police chief Abdul Salam Khalid told Radio Mashaal that an investigation and search operation are under way.

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Police and judicial services were restored in South Waziristan when Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas were merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in 2018. But due to insecurity, courts for South Waziristan and some other districts are located in neighboring areas.

Dozens of police and civilians have been killed in the province since late 2022, when the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban, unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the central government.

Residents have said that insecurity has recently worsened significantly in the Dera Ismail Khan region, particularly in the Tank district, as well as in other areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province's south.

A recent report by the provincial police's anti-terrorism department said that in the first three months of this year, 25 armed attacks have been recorded in Dera Ismail Khan, with 17 in the Tank district.

Recently elected Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed concern over the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province during his speech to a joint session of parliament on April 18.