Alikhil was using internet ‘throughout her journey’

ISLAMABAD: An investigation into the alleged kidnapping of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter has found no evidence of an abduction, interior minister said on Tuesday, as relations between the two countries become increasingly strained.

The Afghan foreign ministry said on Saturday that Silsila Alikhil was riding in a taxi in Islamabad when she was kidnapped and held for several hours, during which she was “severely tortured by unknown persons.”

“There is no case of kidnapping,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid told reporters at a press conference, adding that investigators had watched 700 hours of CCTV footage and searched 200 taxis.

Rashid said that the envoy’s daughter used the internet throughout her journey, adding that the men accused of the kidnapping were hard-working taxi drivers.

He said the incident was being used as a way to “defame our country.”

“Pakistan will not back down from this case, even though there is a huge difference between her (claim) and our findings,” he added, inviting Silsila Alikhil to help with the investigation.

The Afghan ambassador was recalled to Kabul on Sunday over “security threats,” a move Islamabad said was regretable.

Islamabad — a spacious city with a population of around one million — has relatively tight security.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been suspicious of each other.

Kabul accuses Islamabad of offering safe haven to the Taliban militants waging a major campaign across the Afghan countryside, while Islamabad says Kabul turns a blind eye to militant groups launching atacks on Pakistan from its soil.

As fighting raged in Afghanistan, a war of words erupted last week, with Afghanistan’s Vice President Amrullah Saleh accusing the Pakistani military of providing “close air support to Taliban in certain areas.”

Pakistan strongly denied the claim, with a foreign ministry statement saying the country “took necessary measures within its territory to safeguard our own troops and population.”