Kidnapping of Selsela Alikhil
LocationIslamabad, Pakistan
Date16 July 2021
1.45–7 p.m.[1] (PST, UTC+05:00)
Attack type
Kidnapping and torture[2]
VictimSelsela Alikhil

Selsela Alikhil (Pashto: سلسله علي‌خېل), also spelled Silsila Alikhel, is the daughter of an Afghan envoy, Najibullah Alikhil. She was kidnapped on 16 July 2021 at 1.45pm in Islamabad, Pakistan, where her father was serving as the ambassador of Afghanistan.[1][3][4]

Silsila lost consciousness as she was beaten by an attacker who forcefully entered her taxi on her way home, and upon regaining consciousness, she found that her hands and legs had been tied. She was retrieved around 7pm near F-9 Park, Islamabad.[1][5] Her medical report showed that she had some swelling in her brain due to blows to her head and she had torture marks on her body.[2][6][7]

Reactions

Pakistani government

On 17 July, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry confirmed that Selsela Alikhil had been assaulted and said the government was trying to apprehend the culprits,[8][9] but in an about-turn on 18 July,[10] the Pakistani interior minister, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, claimed that she was not kidnapped at all but that it was a conspiracy against Pakistan by the Indian intelligence agency.[11] This allegation was strongly rejected by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, while the Indian Ministry of External Affairs described Pakistan's denial of the kidnapping as "stooping to a new low."[12]

Afghan government

In reaction to the incident, Afghanistan withdrew its ambassador and top diplomats from Pakistan's capital until all security threats to them were neutralized.[13][14]

Protests

A large group of Afghans protested against the incident outside the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul.[15]

Afghan diaspora protested against the incident across the globe, including in the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom. They expressed their displeasure over Pakistan's support for the Taliban and called for a permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan. There were protests in Washington, D.C. and London on 23 July, in Berlin on 24 July, and in Brussels on 25 July.[16]

In Copenhagen, Denmark, activists from the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) protested on 23 July in front of the Pakistan Embassy against the kidnapping of Selsela Alikhil and the alleged abduction of 11-year-old Ulus Yar Khan by the Pakistan intelligence agency.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Syed, Baqir Sajjad (July 20, 2021). "Kabul's take on 'ordeal' of envoy's daughter dismissed". Dawn.
  2. 1 2 "Afghan ambassador's daughter brutally assaulted in Pakistan". Nikkei Asia.
  3. ↑ "Afghan envoy's daughter abducted, tortured". The News International.
  4. ↑ "Daughter of Afghan ambassador abducted, tortured in Pakistan". TRT World.
  5. ↑ "Pakistan's Qureshi dials counterpart in Kabul as Afghan recalls diplomats over abduction, torture of envoy's daughter". The Economic Times.
  6. ↑ "Daughter of Afghan envoy to Pakistan hurt in kidnapping". Reuters. July 17, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Daughter of Afghan envoy kidnapped and injured in Pakistan". Al Jazeera.
  8. ↑ "Afghan envoy's daughter kidnapped in Pakistan". BBC News. July 17, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Afghan envoy's daughter kidnapping: Police arrest second driver". The News International.
  10. ↑ "Afghanistan withdraws diplomats from Pakistan following alleged kidnapping of ambassador's daughter". CNN. 19 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Envoy's daughter wasn't kidnapped, Rasheed rubbishes claims citing RAW agenda". ARY NEWS. July 18, 2021.
  12. ↑ "India, Afghanistan criticise Pakistan's handling of envoy's daughter's kidnapping". Hindustan Times. July 22, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Afghanistan recalls Pakistan envoy over 'security threats'". Deutsche Welle.
  14. ↑ "Afghanistan recalls envoy, diplomats from Pakistan over abduction". Al Jazeera.
  15. ↑ "Silsila Alikhil: Daughter of Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan briefly kidnapped by unknown assailants". The Independent. 19 July 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Afghan diaspora held demonstrations across globe against Pakistan for supporting Taliban". Asian News International.
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