Pakistan's envoy to Afghan feared abducted

Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin was heading to the Afghan capital, Kabul, from the Pakistani tribal district of Khyber when he disappeared.

Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan was missing and feared kidnapped as he travelled by road through a volatile Pakistani tribal region, state television reported on Monday. Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin was heading to the Afghan capital, Kabul, from the Pakistani tribal district of Khyber when he disappeared, Pakistan Television quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

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Local government official, Muhammad Iqbal, confirmed Azizuddin was missing, but provided no further details.

Iqbal said the ambassador was last heard from in Peshawar, the main city in northwestern Pakistan, at 11 am and that there was no record of him at a Khyber checkpoint, indicating he likely disappeared before entering the district.

Criminals engaging in kidnap-for-ransom and Islamic militants operate in Pakistan's northwest regions bordering Afghanistan.