Pole kidnapped in Pakistan

A Polish engineer employed by oil company Geofizyka Kraków, a unit of gas monopoly PGNiG, was kidnapped late last month while travelling to one of the company's bases near Attock, some 110 km from Pakistan's capital Islamabad.

The engineer, identified as Piotr Stanczak, was travelling with a Pakistani driver, bodyguard and translator who were killed in the attack.

Pakistani police officer Kazim Ali described the scene to Reuters, "The criminals came in a white car at around 6:45 am, and first they killed [Stanczak's] Pakistani assistants. Then they whisked him away to an unknown place."

Pakistani news sources reported local people as saying that the engineer might have been taken to tribal areas near Kohat, about 25 km from the camp. The sources also quoted Pakistani officials saying that the incident took place due to negligence of the company because its management did not follow security instructions.

Following the incident, Geofizyka Kraków decided to withdraw its 18 workers from Pakistan.

"Our contract was halted because I don't think that any of our employees could continue to work under such conditions," Leopold Sułkowski, the company's chief executive, told the TVN24 news channel. "We are waiting for them to return safe and sound. They'll fly home when, together with the consular department, we decide that it's safe," he added.

On Wednesday, news broke that the Pakistani Taliban were holding Stanczak. In return for the Pole, they were demanding that Pakistani authorities release militants currently under arrest in the regions of Bajaur, Swat and Darra.