| Kidnapping of Selsela Alikhil | |
|---|---|
| Location | Islamabad,Pakistan |
| Date | 16 July 2021 1.45–7 p.m.[1] (PST,UTC+05:00) |
Attack type | Kidnapping andtorture[2] |
| Victim | Selsela Alikhil |
Selsela Alikhil (Pashto:سلسله عليخېل), also spelledSilsila Alikhel, is the daughter of an Afghan envoy, Najibullah Alikhil. She was kidnapped on 16 July 2021 at 1.45pm inIslamabad,Pakistan, where her father was serving as the ambassador ofAfghanistan.[1][3][4]
Silsila lost consciousness as she was beaten by an attacker who forcefully entered her taxi on her way home, and upon regaining consciousness, she found that her hands and legs had been tied. She was retrieved around 7pm nearF-9 Park, Islamabad.[1][5] Her medical report showed that she had some swelling in her brain due to blows to her head and she had torture marks on her body.[2][6][7]
On 17 July, thePakistani Foreign Ministry confirmed that Selsela Alikhil had been assaulted and said the government was trying to apprehend the culprits,[8][9] but in an about-turn on 18 July,[10] the Pakistani interior minister,Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, claimed that she was not kidnapped at all but that it was a conspiracy against Pakistan by theIndian intelligence agency.[11] This allegation was strongly rejected by theAfghan Foreign Ministry, while theIndian Ministry of External Affairs described Pakistan's denial of the kidnapping as "stooping to a new low."[12]
In reaction to the incident, Afghanistan withdrew its ambassador and top diplomats from Pakistan's capital until all security threats to them were neutralized.[13][14]
A large group of Afghans protested against the incident outside theEmbassy of Pakistan inKabul.[15]
Members of theAfghan diaspora protested against the incident across the globe, including in theUnited States,Belgium,Denmark,Germany and theUnited Kingdom. They expressed their displeasure over Pakistan's support for theTaliban and called for a permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan. There were protests inWashington, D.C. andLondon on 23 July, inBerlin on 24 July, and inBrussels on 25 July.[16]
InCopenhagen, Denmark, activists from thePashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) protested on 23 July in front of the Pakistan Embassy against the kidnapping of Selsela Alikhil and the alleged abduction of 11-year-old Ulus Yar Khan by thePakistan intelligence agency.[16]