Islamabad, September 09: About 20 masked gunmen kidnapped a Greek from his residence in Pakistan’s majestic Kalash valley after killing his guard in a first-ever incident in area known as the “heaven on the earth”.
Police said the Greek identified as Athunasius, was sleeping in his room inside the Kalash museum when the gunmen broke into the building and whisked him away yesterday. A policeman deployed for his security was killed when he resisted. Mr Athunasius has been living in the valley for 15 years and working on a project for development of the Kalash community. He worked for the construction of a three-storey building to preserve and promote the unique culture of the area. The building also housed a primary school where Mr Athunasius worked as a teacher. The government had deployed five policemen for his security but at the time of the incident only two of them were said to be on duty and the others were on leave. Another teacher of the school, Ajmer Khan Kalash, who was also inside the building, was tied to a pillar by a rope. The valley is adjacent to the Nooristan area of Afghanistan and it is believed that Mr Athunasius has been taken to Nooristan.
—-Agencies