A kidnapped Pakistani judge has been freed in a late-night operation, police say

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani judge who was kidnapped after gunmen ambushed his vehicle has been freed in a late-night operation, a police official said Monday.

Around 15 men on motorbikes intercepted Judge Shakirullah Marwat’s vehicle as he was traveling toward Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday night.

There was no claim of responsibility for the assault, but a video distributed by counterterrorism officials the following day showed the judge saying that the militant Pakistani Taliban group, or TTP, would not release him until their demands were met.

Marwat was recovered in a late-night operation carried out by security personnel and law enforcement agencies, police official Faheem Khan said.

“I can say Judge Shakirullah Marwat has been recovered and he is safe,” Khan said, without giving further details.

Pakistan has experienced a surge in violence, mostly blamed on the TTP, since the group ended a cease-fire with the central government in November 2022.