A Pakistan Minister from the occupied Gilgit-Baltistan region, Abaid Ullah Baig, who was kidnapped on Friday by militants was released after negotiations, media reports said.
The kidnapping took place on Friday night when he was travelling from Islamabad to Babusar. However, later with negotiations with the militants, Baig was released in the early morning on Saturday, reported Pakistan-based media portal Minute Mirror.
According to the media portal, militant commander Abdul Hamid had put a condition for the release of the Pakistan minister. Hamid gave the Gilgit Baltistan government a 10-day deadline demanding for the release of armed men who were involved in terrorist incidents such as the Nanga Parbat incident, in which ten foreigners were killed.
In 2013, gunmen dressed as paramilitary police killed foreign tourists in an unprecedented attack in the Nanga Parbat, reported Dawn.
Citing sources, the media portal Minute Mirror said that the demands of the militants will be discussed within a legislative structure. Following the incident, the roads to Gilgit have been cleared and trapped vehicles are now allowed to move to their destinations.
Media portal while quoting police sources said that one of the other demands that the militants made was the adherence to Shariah principles by prohibiting women from participating in sports.
Earlier, former Gilgit-Baltistan government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said that negotiations with militant leaders were taking place in Thik Jal area and that he along with Islamic scholars were present at the Jirga, reported the portal quoting Faraq's statement to the media.
A local police officer attributed the whole episode to the surge in sectarian violence in the region.
"The sectarian tensions in the recent past had snowballed into the current situation, we hope the situation will be resolved soon," reported Minute Mirror quoting the police officer.
