Body of kidnapped turk found in Afghanistan
The body of a kidnapped Turkish engineer was found in eastern Afghanistan today, less than 24 hours after he was snatched with his driver and interpreter by a band of armed men.
Mohammad Eyup, who went missing yesterday afternoon, is the second Turkish engineer to be killed in the country’s restive countryside this year. His body was found by security forces who had launched a massive search operation, said Jamil Jumbesh, head of the Interior Ministry’s anti-terror division.
He had been shot several times, Kunar provincial police chief Mateullha Sofie said, adding that it appeared the kidnappers killed him and abandoned his body as police moved in to try to capture them.
The driver and interpreter were freed without serious injury before dawn, with officials crediting the pressure of the search by the Afghan military, police and coalition forces for their release.
The driver and interpreter said 12 armed men, wearing military-style uniforms, stopped their car as they were driving from a road construction project in Kunar province to the city of Jalalabad, where they have been staying.
Police found the car abandoned.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Bandits and insurgents from the Taliban and other Islamic extremist groups operate in the area about 110 miles east of the capital, Kabul, officials said.
