Shahbaz Taseer reveals harrowing details of his time in Taliban captivity

Shahbaz Taseer, the son of slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, spoke about the details of his time in Taliban captivity in an exclusive interview to BBC. Shahbaz was recovered in March, after spending more than four years as a captive in Taliban custody.

Shahbaz revealed that he was with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Taliban who would badly torture him and make videos of his entire ordeal. Amongst the Taliban group, the Uzbek Taliban are believed to be most ruthless.

Shahbaz was kidnapped from Lahore and was later taken to the Waziristan area of Meer Ali. Later, clashes between the Afghan Taliban and the Uzbek Taliban resulted in his surprising release, which would have been very difficult otherwise.

During his interview, Shahbaz recounted the horrific ways the Uzbek Taliban would torture him.

“They used to flog me. I was flogged about 500 times in three days, then they cut my back with blades and removed nails from my hands and feet,” Shahbaz revealed.

He added that the abductors used to keep him hungry for days and once they even stitched his mouth.

“They used to torture me for making films and used to tell me their plans in advance. Like they would tell me that they will remove my nails tomorrow. I used to pray the whole night,” said Shahbaz.

Shahbaz said that he was able to bear so much torture by virtue of feeling protected by God. He felt like he was in a ‘shell’ through which nothing could harm him. Another thing which kept him going was his mother’s voice which he was able to hear when the Taliban used to call her.

Shahbaz was recovered in March, after he escaped from the Afghan Taliban, who had sentenced him to two years in prison. A fellow Afghan Taliban helped him escape and this eventually ended his ordeal.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=53012

Posted by fatimaarshad on May 17 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.