Afghanistan: Kidnappings for ransom surge in Kandahar

http://www.afghanistantimes.af/

Deeply concerned about increasing kidnappings for ransom in southern Kandahar province, the human rights office on Thursday said two minor boys were brutally murdered in captivity after their families failed to meet the kidnappers’ demand. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission regional office in Kandahar said in a statement unknown individuals kidnapped a 10-year-old boy, Syed Haroon, from Kandahar City and returned his dead body with visible signs of torture to his family after 15 days of the abduction. It said the kidnappers had sought eight millions Pakistani rupees in ransom from the family, which failed to arrange. Another boy, Ahmadullah, 8, was kidnapped from the Karez Bazaar area and found hanged to death from electric pole, the statement said. Four days ago, unknown gunmen entered a house in Kandahar City and shot dead seven members of a family, including three males, two females and two children. The human rights office expressed its deep concern over the said incidents and asked security organs to overcome their inefficiency. The governor’s spokesman, Javed Faisal, said efforts were underway to arrest those responsible for the killing of the two children and to prevent such incidents. He said Haroon had been kidnapped for money, but Ahmadullah was killed without any contact between his kidnappers and family. However, he put at four the number of family members killed in the gun attack, saying police were investigating all the cases.