Foreign hostages in Pakistan

:*Beverly Anne Giesbrecht, was a Canadian journalist, who was kidnapped along with her Pakistani translator, Salman Khan, and her Pakistani driver, Zar Muhammad, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on November 11, 2008.{{cite web |url=http://ctv2.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081119.wpakistan20/business/Business/Business/%26id%3DRTGAM_20081119_wpakistan20 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2019-12-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214151012/http://ctv2.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081119.wpakistan20/business/Business/Business/%26id%3DRTGAM_20081119_wpakistan20 |archive-date=2014-12-14 |url-status=dead }} In late February 2009, a video surfaced of her, in between two men with rifles.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-journalist-reveals-details-of-abduction-in-hostage-video-1.792629| title = B.C. journalist reveals details of abduction in hostage video {{!}} CBC News}} In March 2009, a video surfaced on which Giesbrecht could be heard stating that the Pakistani Taliban would behead her unless a ransom was paid. Muhammad was freed in June 2009. Khan was freed in July 2009. Giesbrecht died in captivity somewhere in Pakistan, due to hepatitis, in October 2010.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/abducted-b-c-woman-s-friend-fears-worst-1.969334| title = Abducted B.C. woman's friend fears worst {{!}} CBC News}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/abducted-canadian-journalist-dead-sources/706027|title=Death of Beverly Giesbrecht|accessdate=25 October 2023}}{{cite news| url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/old-friend-gives-up-hope-for-captive-canadian-in-pakistan/article1946576/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110321202802/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/old-friend-gives-up-hope-for-captive-canadian-in-pakistan/article1946576/| archive-date = 2011-03-21| title = Old friend gives up hope for captive Canadian in Pakistan - The Globe and Mail| website = The Globe and Mail}}{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rcmp-secretly-ended-probe-into-canadian-held-by-taliban-1.1163262| title = RCMP secretly ended probe into Canadian held by Taliban {{!}} CBC News}}

:*Rajvinder Kaur Gill was a Canadian Sikh woman of Indian origin who had travelled to Pakistan to meet a prospective groom, in 2012. She had disappeared from Lahore, Pakistan. In 2017, a Pakistani court acquitted a man accused of her killing, due to lack of evidence.{{cite web |last=Mall |first=Rattan |title=Pakistani court acquits man of murder of Indo-Canadian Rajvinder Kaur Gill {{!}} Indo-Canadian Voice |date=11 December 2017 |url=https://voiceonline.com/pakistani-canadian-rajvinder/ |access-date=2022-03-12 |language=en-CA}}

:*Unnamed Chinese Engineer: Two Chinese engineers working at the Gomal Zam Dam were kidnapped along with their Pakistani driver and Pakistani bodyguard in South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border on October 10, 2004. The driver and bodyguard were later released. Pakistani forces managed to rescue one of the engineers several days later but the other engineer was killed during the rescue attempt.{{cite web |title=People's Daily Online -- Two Chinese engineers kidnapped in Pakistan |url=http://en.people.cn/200410/09/eng20041009_159503.html |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=en.people.cn}}{{cite web|url=http://english.people.com.cn/200410/15/eng20041015_160283.html|title = People's Daily Online -- One Chinese hostage killed, one freed in Pakistan}}

:*Unnamed Chinese Engineer: Two Chinese engineers working at the Gomal Zam Dam were kidnapped along with their Pakistani driver and Pakistani bodyguard in South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border on October 10, 2004. The driver and bodyguard were later released. Pakistani forces managed to rescue one of the engineers several days later but the other engineer was killed during the rescue attempt.

:*Unnamed Chinese Teachers: Two Chinese language teachers, believed to be a couple, were kidnapped in Quetta by armed gunmen on May 24, 2017. A bystander who attempted to intervene was shot and wounded while rescuing a third person. On June 8, 2017, the Islamic State announced that they had killed the Chinese hostages and sent video to the phones of journalists working in Baluchistan, which showed two bodies shot and bleeding on some grassy ground.{{Cite news |date=2017-05-24 |title=Two Chinese language teachers kidnapped in Pakistan |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-china-idUSKBN18K17Y |access-date=2022-03-12}}{{cite web| url = https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/china-investigating-claim-chinese-pakistan-killed-47931459| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170609081030/http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/china-investigating-claim-chinese-pakistan-killed-47931459| archive-date = 2017-06-09| title = China, Pakistan investigate IS claim 2 Chinese were killed - ABC News| website = ABC News}}

:*Hana Humpálová and Antonie Chrástecká, were two Czech travelers who were kidnapped near Pakistan's western border along with a Pakistani police officer on March 14, 2013. The officer was later released. Both women were on an overland trip from Europe to India. The kidnappers demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui.{{cite web|url=http://aktualne.centrum.cz/czechnews/clanek.phtml?id=774088|title = Two Czech women tourists kidnapped in western Pakistan | Aktuálně.cz|date = 14 March 2013}} Both Czech women were released in March 2015, following intense negotiations by a Turkish NGO IHH.{{cite web|url=http://www.aa.com.tr/en/s/485032--turkish-charity-rescues-2-czech-women-taken-by-al-qaeda-in-2013|title = Turkish charity rescues 2 Czech women taken by al-Qaeda in 2013}} In February 2016, Czech President Milos Zeman confirmed that a $6 million ransom was paid for the women's release.{{cite web |title={{!}} |url=https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/zeman-confirms-ransom-was-paid-for-two-kidnapped-czech-women/1313415 |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=www.ceskenoviny.cz}}

:*Bernd Muehlenbeck, was an aid worker who worked for Welthungerhilfe alongside Giovanni Lo Porto who were both kidnapped on January 19, 2012, by al-Qaeda in Multan, in Punjab province. Muehlenbeck appeared in proof of life videos released just before Christmas 2012 and in February 2014. Muehlenbeck was freed from inside Afghanistan in October 2014. Lo Porto was killed in an American drone strike in January 2015. His body was recovered in August 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/26/giovanni-lo-porto-friends-launch-petition-abduction-pakistan|title = Giovanni Lo Porto's friends break cover two years after his kidnap in Pakistan|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 26 December 2013}}{{cite web |title=Welcome krmagazine.com - Justhost.com |url=http://www.krmagazine.com/2014/02/15/german-al-qaeda-hostage-in-a-video-appeal-to-merkel-for-help/ |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=www.krmagazine.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/world/europe/germany-abducted-aid-worker-freed.html|title = Germany: Abducted Aid Worker Freed|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 11 October 2014}}{{cite news| url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-says-militants-demanded-ransom-for-hostage-bodies-in-pakistan-1440112045| title = U.S. Says Militants Demanded Ransom for Hostage Bodies in Pakistan - WSJ| newspaper = Wall Street Journal| date = 21 August 2015}}

:*A German woman (name withheld), and a Swiss man were kidnapped on February 10, 2021, by a man identified as Rana Irfan. They were later released by him when he received a ransom of 10.5 Million PKR in Bitcoin, and then fled to Germany with the money.{{cite web |date=2021-04-14 |title=SAMAA - Lahore man robs foreigners, escapes to Germany: police |url=https://www.samaa.tv/news/2021/03/lahore-man-robs-foreigners-escapes-to-germany-police/ |access-date=2022-03-12 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414024735/https://www.samaa.tv/news/2021/03/lahore-man-robs-foreigners-escapes-to-germany-police/ |archive-date=14 April 2021 |url-status=dead}}

:*Giovanni Lo Porto, was an aid worker who worked for Welthungerhilfe alongside Bernd Muehlenbeck who were both kidnapped on January 19, 2012, by al-Qaeda in Multan, in Punjab province. Muehlenbeck appeared in proof of life videos released just before Christmas 2012 and in February 2014. Muehlenbeck was freed from inside Afghanistan in October 2014. Lo Porto was accidentally killed in an American drone strike in January 2015. His body was recovered in August 2015.

:*Piotr Stańczak, was a Polish engineer and geologist who was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the city of Attock on September 28, 2008. The gunmen shot dead his Pakistani driver, Pakistani translator and Pakistani bodyguard with whom he was travelling in a car.{{Cite news |date=2009-02-08 |title=Pakistan Taleban 'kill hostage' |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7876565.stm |access-date=2022-03-12}} Stańczak was beheaded by militants on 7 February 2009, with a video of the execution released. His executioners said they murdered Stańczak because of the Pakistani government's failure to release Taliban prisoners.{{cite news |last=Shah |first=Saeed |date=2009-02-09 |title=Polish man beheaded in Pakistani militant video |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/feb/09/pakistani-militants-behead-polish |access-date=2009-02-09}}

:*A Swiss tourist couple was abducted, while travelling in Balochistan on July 2, 2011.{{Cite news |date=2011-07-02 |title=Swiss couple kidnapped in south-west Pakistan |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14004089 |access-date=2022-03-12}} The couple were seized by unidentified gunmen affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban in the Loralai District, which is some 150 km north of the provincial capital Quetta. The couple escaped in March 2012.{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-swiss-hostages-idUSBRE82E09J20120315 | work=Reuters | title=Swiss couple escape from Pakistan Taliban captivity | date=15 March 2012}}

:*A Swiss man (name withheld), and a German woman were kidnapped on February 10, 2021, by a man identified as Rana Irfan. They were later released by him when he received a ransom of 10.5 Million PKR in Bitcoin, and then fled to Germany with the money.{{cite web |title=Lahore man robs foreigners, escapes to Germany: police | date=3 March 2021 |url=https://www.samaa.tv/news/2021/03/lahore-man-robs-foreigners-escapes-to-germany-police/#:~:text=Lahore%20man%20robs%20foreigners%2C%20escapes%20to%20Germany%3A%20police,-He%20got%20the&text=%22Rana%20Irfan%20kidnapped%20a%20foreigner,money%20be%20transferred%20in%20bitcoins.}}

:*John Solecki, was an American official working for the UNHCR in Quetta when he was kidnapped by a Baloch terrorist group named Baluch Liberation United Front (BLUF) on February 2, 2009. His Pakistani driver was shot and later he died because of his injuries.{{cite news| url=https://nypost.com/2009/04/08/nj-man-held-captive-in-pakistan-says-its-great-to-be-free/ | work=New York Post | title=NJ MAN HELD CAPTIVE IN PAKISTAN SAYS 'IT'S GREAT TO BE FREE| date=8 April 2009}} Solecki was released on April 4, 2009.{{cite web|url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/john-solecki-freed-312969.html|title=Captors free abducted UN official at the Afghan border|date=5 April 2009|work=News 18}} He was in the captivity of BLUF for a period of 61 days. While he was in their captivity, BLUF had repeatedly threatened to behead him.

:*Daniel Pearl, was a Jewish American journalist was kidnapped in Karachi by a militant group on January 23, 2002. He was tortured and beheaded nine days later.

:*Warren Weinstein, was an American aid worker living in Lahore who was kidnapped from his residence by unknown gunmen on August 13, 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/08/201181311749660529.html |title=US aid official kidnapped in Pakistan - Central & South Asia |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date= |access-date=2011-12-03}} In December 2011, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri claimed to be holding him in FATA.{{cite web|author=AFP |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/301043/al-qaeda-holding-us-aid-worker-warren-weinstein-in-pakistan-site/ |title=Al Qaeda claims kidnapping of Weinstein in Pakistan – The Express Tribune |publisher=Tribune.com.pk |date= December 2011|access-date=2011-12-03}} Weinstein was accidentally killed in an American drone strike in January 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/23/obama-us-hostages-killed-al-qaeda/26232205/|title=Obama: 2 hostages accidentally killed in drone strike|website=USA Today}}

• Foreign hostages in Afghanistan

{{reflist}}

Category:Hostage taking in Pakistan

Category:Crime in Pakistan

Category:Terrorism in Pakistan