The news comes three years after Ali Haider Gilani was kidnapped by suspected Taliban terrorists in a hail of gunfire on May 9, 2013 in Pakistan, two days before the national election in which he was campaigning. (Reuters Photo)
Highlights
- Ali Haider Gilani, son of ex-Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani, found alive
- He was kidnapped by suspected Taliban terrorists in 2013
- Abducted in Pakistan's Punjab province, he was rescued from Afghanistan
US and Afghan forces have found the kidnapped son of a former Pakistani prime minister alive in an operation in Afghanistan, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement issued today.
Ali Haider Gilani, son of Yousaf Raza Gilani, "has been recovered today in a joint operation carried out by the Afghan and US security forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan", the statement said, adding that preparations were being made to return him to Pakistan following a medical check-up.
His brother Abdul Qadir Gilani told news agency AFP that his father is in Afghanistan.
"I have not yet spoken to him and will confirm only after my father confirms it to us, because there have been rumours about his release earlier also which were untrue," he said.
The foreign ministry statement comes three years after Mr Gilani was kidnapped by suspected Taliban terrorists in a hail of gunfire on May 9, 2013 in Pakistan, two days before the national election in which he was campaigning.
Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire before abducting him in a black Honda car on the outskirts of Multan in Pakistan's Punjab province. His secretary and a bodyguard were killed, and four people wounded.
In May last year he was able to phone his father to tell him he was well.
Yousaf Raza Gillani was the Prime Minister of Pakistan from March 2008 until he was sacked and indicted by the Supreme Court in April 2012 for refusing to re-open corruption cases against the then-president.
He had complained after the kidnapping that his family was not given security despite being threatened.