A prominent doctor was kidnapped and killed in Northern Afghanistan — despite a hefty ransom paid to secure his release, family members revealed.
Psychiatrist Mohamed Nader Alemi’s body was picked up by the side of the road Thursday, two months after he was snatched from Mazar-i-Sharif.
His captors had demanded and received $350,000 as part of a deal to secure his release.
Alemi had worked at a local hospital in the city, and also operated a private practice.
“My father was badly tortured, there are signs of harm on his body,” Roheen Alemi, the doctor’s son, told the Associated Press Friday.
Kidnappings of prominent people have long been a common occurrence in Afghanistan and led many local businesspeople to flee the country over the years.
“The Islamic Emirate is committed to find and punish the perpetrators,” a Taliban spokesman said of the incident. Saeed Khosty, the country’s interior minister, told the wire service eight suspected kidnappers had been arrested and that two other abducted people had been rescued safely.