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Five foreign hostages kidnapped in 2012 in Afghanistan recovered by Pakistan Army

India and Afghanistan seek to delegitimize the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan , the US government should get the installed Afghan government and its indian allies in line if they want a real solution for the security issues posed by the porous and open border.
 
lol, all of u are so naive n cute, its actually heartbreaking....

Sir, there is nothing clean or dirty about the relentless pursuit of national interests. Morality is for the plebes to ponder over.
:cheers:
 
58599a7a18940.jpg


Cute babies. Perhaps 2 were born in captivity. What the hell they were doing in an active war zone (Afghanistan) ?
Seems happy family , well................................... making bacha in the prison ????? ... nice cute bacha..
 
Canadian American family rescued after five years as captives in Afghanistan




Caitlan Coleman, Joshua Boyle and three children held by Taliban-linked groupCouple abducted in Afghanistan and had children in captivity



A still image from a video posted by the Taliban on social media on 19 December 2016 shows American Caitlan Coleman, left, speaking next to her husband, Joshua Boyle, and their two sons. Photograph: Handout/Reuters

Ashifa Kassam in Toronto and Haroon Janjua in Islamabad

Thursday 12 October 2017 13.48 BSTLast modified on Friday 13 October 2017 01.00 BST

Nearly five years to the day after they were captured by militants linked to the Taliban, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children – all of whom were born in captivity – have been rescued, bringing an end to an ordeal the couple described as a “Kafkaesque nightmare”.

Pakistani troops, operating on intelligence provided by the United States, rescued Caitlan Coleman, her husband Joshua Boyle and their children after locating them in the mountainous Kurram Valley region that borders Afghanistan.

“Today they are free,” Donald Trump said on Thursday in a statement confirming their release.

The couple were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 and were believed to be held by the Haqqani network, a group deemed a terrorist organisation by the US.

Boyle’s family said they had received a call from their son early on Thursday morning, describing it as the first time in five years they had been able to speak to him.

“Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison,” Patrick Boyle told the Toronto Star. His son also told him that he and Coleman had had a third baby – a girl – who had been born two months earlier.

Boyle told his father that the rescue operation had taken place while the family were locked in the trunk of a car. The last words Boyle heard were “kill the hostages” before a shootout erupted.

The five kidnappers were shot dead, and Boyle was injured by shrapnel, his father told the Star. The family are in Pakistan and are preparing to return to North America in the coming days.


Arrangements had been made for the family to leave Pakistan immediately on a US transport plane, but Boyle had refused to board. A US official said Boyle was concerned that he might face scrutiny by the Americans over his links to Omar Khadr, the Canadian held for 10 years at Guantánamo Bay after being captured as a teenager during a firefight at an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan. Boyle was briefly married to Zaynab Khadr, Omar’s sister.

The official said Boyle would not face any repercussions by boarding an American plane. “It is not in our intention to do anything like that. We are prepared to bring them back home,” the military official told Agence France-Press.

The Colemans said the FBI had notified the family of the rescue. “The US government called us Wednesday afternoon,” Jim Coleman told ABC News. “They told me to sit down and then they told me what had happened. All they told me was that they were in ‘friendly hands’.”

Lyn Coleman, Caitlan’s mother, said: “I am in a state of euphoria, stunned and overjoyed. Caity and her family’s nightmare is finally over.”

The Pakistani military said US intelligence officials had been tracking the family’s location and had alerted Pakistan after the couple were moved into the Kurram Valley region, a tribal area that borders Afghanistan. “All hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin,” the military added.

A senior intelligence official in Islamabad told the Guardian that the Haqqani network had demanded a ransom of 15m rupees and the release of captives from Afghanistan in exchange for the family’s release. The source said the ransom was not paid. It was unclear whether any other concessions were made.

The rescue comes 10 months after the couple’s captors released a video, showing Boyle, now 34, Coleman, 31, and their two children, pleading with their governments to negotiate with their captors.

“We can only ask and pray that somebody will recognize the atrocities these men carry out against us as so-called retaliation, in their ingratitude and hypocrisy,” Coleman told the camera, appearing to read from prepared remarks. “My children have seen their mother defiled.”

She described their years-long ordeal as “the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves”.

The couple – who met as teenagers online and bonded over their love of Star Wars fan sites – were abducted in 2012 during a backpacking trip that began in Russia and took them through Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan before their arrival in northern Afghanistan. Coleman, from Pennsylvania, was pregnant with their first child at the time.

Coleman’s parents said they had last heard from their son-in-law in 2012, after he contacted them from an internet cafe in what he described as an “unsafe” part of Afghanistan.

In 2013, the couple appeared in two videos pleading with the US government to free them from the Taliban. Coleman’s parents later told reporters they had received a letter in which their daughter said she had given birth to a second child in captivity.

A letter sent to Boyle’s parents and shared with the Toronto Star last year detailed the lengths the couple had gone to to deliver the child; hiding the pregnancy from captors until Boyle delivered the child in darkness, guided only by a flashlight clenched between his teeth.

“The astonished captors were good and brought all our post-partum needs, so he is now fat and healthy, praise God,” Boyle wrote in the letter to his parents. “We are trying to keep spirits high for the children and play Beautiful Life,” he added, believed to be a reference to Life is Beautiful, the Italian film in which a father shields his son from the realities of a Nazi concentration camp by pretending they are in a game.

In the years prior to his capture, Boyle, from Ontario, was a familiar figure to reporters in Canada. During his brief marriage to Zaynab Khadr, Boyle had become a spokesperson of sorts for the Khadr family, helping Zaynab in her push to raise awareness of her brother’s case.

In a 2009 interview, Boyle detailed his fascination with terrorism, counter-terrorism and security. “Anything related to terrorism on Wikipedia, I wrote, pretty much,” he told the Globe and Mail. His marriage to Khadr lasted about a year.

On Thursday, Trump heralded the rescue as a “positive moment” for the relationship between US and Pakistan “The Pakistani government’s cooperation is a sign that it is honouring America’s wish that it do more to provide security in the region,” Trump said at a White House event. “They worked very hard on this and I believe they are starting to respect the United States again.”

A day earlier, Trump had hinted at an imminent rescue. “America is being respected again,” he told an audience in Pennsylvania. “Something happened today where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news. And one of my generals came in, they said, you know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would have never done that. It was a great sign of respect. You’ll probably be hearing about it over the next few days.”

US officials have long accused Pakistan’s military and intelligence services of providing cover for militants; they have also criticised them for not doing enough to crack down on the Haqqani network, believed to be responsible for several attacks against the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

News of the rescue broke on the same day that a US delegation – including senior officials from the state and defense departments – travelled to Islamabad to meet with Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Canada said it had also been actively engaged with the governments of the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan and thanked them on Thursday for their efforts in securing the family’s release.

“We are greatly relieved that after being held hostage for five years, Joshua Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman, as well as their young children, have been released and are safe,” the country’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said. “Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey.”


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ues-canadian-american-family-hostages-haqqani

This whole story is nonsensical and incomprehensible to me.

Just how stupid this man really is, to be wandering around in Afghanistan with his family, to begin. Then, producing children in captivity. Eludes common sense and survival being the prime directive thing.
These groups if kidnap couple let them live together and they don't tie them up just surrounded by thousands of men around their hiding area. Secondly I think the couple is also hiding something they were most probably some Christian Missionaries.
 
Canadian American family rescued after five years as captives in Afghanistan




Caitlan Coleman, Joshua Boyle and three children held by Taliban-linked groupCouple abducted in Afghanistan and had children in captivity



A still image from a video posted by the Taliban on social media on 19 December 2016 shows American Caitlan Coleman, left, speaking next to her husband, Joshua Boyle, and their two sons. Photograph: Handout/Reuters

Ashifa Kassam in Toronto and Haroon Janjua in Islamabad

Thursday 12 October 2017 13.48 BSTLast modified on Friday 13 October 2017 01.00 BST

Nearly five years to the day after they were captured by militants linked to the Taliban, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children – all of whom were born in captivity – have been rescued, bringing an end to an ordeal the couple described as a “Kafkaesque nightmare”.

Pakistani troops, operating on intelligence provided by the United States, rescued Caitlan Coleman, her husband Joshua Boyle and their children after locating them in the mountainous Kurram Valley region that borders Afghanistan.

“Today they are free,” Donald Trump said on Thursday in a statement confirming their release.

The couple were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012 and were believed to be held by the Haqqani network, a group deemed a terrorist organisation by the US.

Boyle’s family said they had received a call from their son early on Thursday morning, describing it as the first time in five years they had been able to speak to him.

“Josh said he was doing pretty well for someone who has spent the last five years in an underground prison,” Patrick Boyle told the Toronto Star. His son also told him that he and Coleman had had a third baby – a girl – who had been born two months earlier.

Boyle told his father that the rescue operation had taken place while the family were locked in the trunk of a car. The last words Boyle heard were “kill the hostages” before a shootout erupted.

The five kidnappers were shot dead, and Boyle was injured by shrapnel, his father told the Star. The family are in Pakistan and are preparing to return to North America in the coming days.


Arrangements had been made for the family to leave Pakistan immediately on a US transport plane, but Boyle had refused to board. A US official said Boyle was concerned that he might face scrutiny by the Americans over his links to Omar Khadr, the Canadian held for 10 years at Guantánamo Bay after being captured as a teenager during a firefight at an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan. Boyle was briefly married to Zaynab Khadr, Omar’s sister.

The official said Boyle would not face any repercussions by boarding an American plane. “It is not in our intention to do anything like that. We are prepared to bring them back home,” the military official told Agence France-Press.

The Colemans said the FBI had notified the family of the rescue. “The US government called us Wednesday afternoon,” Jim Coleman told ABC News. “They told me to sit down and then they told me what had happened. All they told me was that they were in ‘friendly hands’.”

Lyn Coleman, Caitlan’s mother, said: “I am in a state of euphoria, stunned and overjoyed. Caity and her family’s nightmare is finally over.”

The Pakistani military said US intelligence officials had been tracking the family’s location and had alerted Pakistan after the couple were moved into the Kurram Valley region, a tribal area that borders Afghanistan. “All hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin,” the military added.

A senior intelligence official in Islamabad told the Guardian that the Haqqani network had demanded a ransom of 15m rupees and the release of captives from Afghanistan in exchange for the family’s release. The source said the ransom was not paid. It was unclear whether any other concessions were made.

The rescue comes 10 months after the couple’s captors released a video, showing Boyle, now 34, Coleman, 31, and their two children, pleading with their governments to negotiate with their captors.

“We can only ask and pray that somebody will recognize the atrocities these men carry out against us as so-called retaliation, in their ingratitude and hypocrisy,” Coleman told the camera, appearing to read from prepared remarks. “My children have seen their mother defiled.”

She described their years-long ordeal as “the Kafkaesque nightmare in which we find ourselves”.

The couple – who met as teenagers online and bonded over their love of Star Wars fan sites – were abducted in 2012 during a backpacking trip that began in Russia and took them through Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan before their arrival in northern Afghanistan. Coleman, from Pennsylvania, was pregnant with their first child at the time.

Coleman’s parents said they had last heard from their son-in-law in 2012, after he contacted them from an internet cafe in what he described as an “unsafe” part of Afghanistan.

In 2013, the couple appeared in two videos pleading with the US government to free them from the Taliban. Coleman’s parents later told reporters they had received a letter in which their daughter said she had given birth to a second child in captivity.

A letter sent to Boyle’s parents and shared with the Toronto Star last year detailed the lengths the couple had gone to to deliver the child; hiding the pregnancy from captors until Boyle delivered the child in darkness, guided only by a flashlight clenched between his teeth.

“The astonished captors were good and brought all our post-partum needs, so he is now fat and healthy, praise God,” Boyle wrote in the letter to his parents. “We are trying to keep spirits high for the children and play Beautiful Life,” he added, believed to be a reference to Life is Beautiful, the Italian film in which a father shields his son from the realities of a Nazi concentration camp by pretending they are in a game.

In the years prior to his capture, Boyle, from Ontario, was a familiar figure to reporters in Canada. During his brief marriage to Zaynab Khadr, Boyle had become a spokesperson of sorts for the Khadr family, helping Zaynab in her push to raise awareness of her brother’s case.

In a 2009 interview, Boyle detailed his fascination with terrorism, counter-terrorism and security. “Anything related to terrorism on Wikipedia, I wrote, pretty much,” he told the Globe and Mail. His marriage to Khadr lasted about a year.

On Thursday, Trump heralded the rescue as a “positive moment” for the relationship between US and Pakistan “The Pakistani government’s cooperation is a sign that it is honouring America’s wish that it do more to provide security in the region,” Trump said at a White House event. “They worked very hard on this and I believe they are starting to respect the United States again.”

A day earlier, Trump had hinted at an imminent rescue. “America is being respected again,” he told an audience in Pennsylvania. “Something happened today where a country that totally disrespected us called with some very, very important news. And one of my generals came in, they said, you know, I have to tell you, a year ago they would have never done that. It was a great sign of respect. You’ll probably be hearing about it over the next few days.”

US officials have long accused Pakistan’s military and intelligence services of providing cover for militants; they have also criticised them for not doing enough to crack down on the Haqqani network, believed to be responsible for several attacks against the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

News of the rescue broke on the same day that a US delegation – including senior officials from the state and defense departments – travelled to Islamabad to meet with Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Canada said it had also been actively engaged with the governments of the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan and thanked them on Thursday for their efforts in securing the family’s release.

“We are greatly relieved that after being held hostage for five years, Joshua Boyle and his wife Caitlan Coleman, as well as their young children, have been released and are safe,” the country’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said. “Joshua, Caitlan, their children and the Boyle and Coleman families have endured a horrible ordeal over the past five years. We stand ready to support them as they begin their healing journey.”


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ues-canadian-american-family-hostages-haqqani


These groups if kidnap couple let them live together and they don't tie them up just surrounded by thousands of men around their hiding area. Secondly I think the couple is also hiding something they were most probably some Christian Missionaries.
Yes, Boyle is fishy character..... no one will ever know inside story ever....
 
Hard to digest, though.

Congrats Pakistan. Intel received on Wednesday 4pm and here is the result.

Few of our friends asking that should have gone offensive to tell US, sometimes things aren't meant for public stunt however action speaks louder than words. Check acknowledgement.
This is the difference, theyUSasks us to carry out rescue operation whereas feku people do bollwodd stunt and show item songs clip to their white masters
 
Hard to digest, though.

Congrats Pakistan. Intel received on Wednesday 4pm and here is the result.

Few of our friends asking that should have gone offensive to tell US, sometimes things aren't meant for public stunt however action speaks louder than words. Check acknowledgement.
story samjh sa bahar, in US media outlet claim , they been rescued in Afghanistan by Afghan forces. And now totally different story....very strange..
 
As soon as I have heard this news, there are many unanswered questions in my mind. It could have been one of these scenarios but its definitely not as simple as being reported.

1. Most probably the kidnappers have been released after some give or take. Could be money or persons exchanged. Americans and ISI did it jointly using "contacts". The cover story is just to avoid criticism by media.

2. The operation took place inside Afghanistan. Pakistan just portrayed it as an IBO inside own territory. Later Americans get in loop also and hence a cover story.

3. Mr Boyle is an undercover agent. Why he is refusing to go to USA? It could have been that he was in FATA and his cover busted by ISI. Later Americans and ISI reached some agreement and he is released. Hence a cover story?

4. I am unable to swallow, why Americans did not intercept them while in Afghanistan? If they have been tracked, why allow them to cross over in Pakistan? Was it some kind of test for Pakistan? Was there some other sinister plan to malign Pakistan just like killing of Mullah Akhter Mansoor in drone attack (Balochistan). He was tracked and only attacked once in Pakistan territory

5. Why Trump issued a statement, 2 days ago. While talking to media he said that a "country" has started to behave and giving us respect now. Is it a grand show just to improve Trump domestic rating?

@Icarus @Irfan Baloch @Horus @Secur
 
story samjh sa bahar, in US media outlet claim , they been rescued in Afghanistan by Afghan forces. And now totally different story....very strange..

:rofl::rofl::rofl: ...Pakistani army seems whole world is fool like their own people....US pressure seems to be working now.... do you think PA did not know whereabout of these people... they had bee n kidnapped in AF and brought to pak by who??? and till 4 years PA had no clue.. :(..... when US threatens everything comes out from so called best army....... what a crap... no wonder one ex army chief made billions and ran away from country...
 
story samjh sa bahar, in US media outlet claim , they been rescued in Afghanistan by Afghan forces. And now totally different story....very strange..

"However, Boyle’s parents, Linda and Patrick Boyle, said their son told them he and his family had been caught in the middle of a shootout before the rescue, seemingly backing up the Pakistani government’s side of the story.

Boyle called his parents early on Thursday morning to notify them of his safety, according to the Toronto Star. He told them he was in the trunk of his kidnappers’ car with his wife and children when a firefight broke out between Pakistani forces and the kidnappers.

During the shootout, Boyle told his relatives that the last words he heard before the incident ended, were his kidnappers shouting "kill the hostages," according to the Daily Mail."

https://www.rt.com/usa/406538-family-rescued-haqqani-pakistan-us/

Where the kidnappers speaking English? Lol there is definitely more to this story that neither side is telling.

I believe they told the gist of the event but details are vague. Some unknown officials which aren't even known may be trying to discredit Pakistan. Who knows there could've been a different intention with the US. They could've wanted them killed inside Pakistan to portray Pakistan as a nation that needs foreign assistance in combating terrorism. As a result US troops in Pakistan.

At the end of the day Pakistans image gained some positivity for a change.


US Embassy Statement:
 
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Looks like the Pindi boys have again recued the "respect" of the Pentagon boys!!!!! It's a matter of chemistry....

so they stayed in Afghanistan for 5 years... woman was defiled... she gave birth to 3 children....and was rescued they very next day they were brought to Pakistan...... who is incompetent here????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

ITS a very BIIIG question
Arkadashim, look at the big picture!!!! From NK to "Kung-fu" kick the Pentagon boys have been in retreat!!!! The home front is also a big pile of crap!!! They badly needed to show something......
 
As soon as I have heard this news, there are many unanswered questions in my mind. It could have been one of these scenarios but its definitely not as simple as being reported.

1. Most probably the kidnappers have been released after some give or take. Could be money or persons exchanged. Americans and ISI did it jointly using "contacts". The cover story is just to avoid criticism by media.

2. The operation took place inside Afghanistan. Pakistan just portrayed it as an IBO inside own territory. Later Americans get in loop also and hence a cover story.

3. Mr Boyle is an undercover agent. Why he is refusing to go to USA? It could have been that he was in FATA and his cover busted by ISI. Later Americans and ISI reached some agreement and he is released. Hence a cover story?

4. I am unable to swallow, why Americans did not intercept them while in Afghanistan? If they have been tracked, why allow them to cross over in Pakistan? Was it some kind of test for Pakistan? Was there some other sinister plan to malign Pakistan just like killing of Mullah Akhter Mansoor in drone attack (Balochistan). He was tracked and only attacked once in Pakistan territory

5. Why Trump issued a statement, 2 days ago. While talking to media he said that a "country" has started to behave and giving us respect now. Is it a grand show just to improve Trump domestic rating?

@Icarus @Irfan Baloch @Horus @Secur

No the operation took place inside Pakistan and it was done by our forces. CIA were trying to find them but realized that on 11 Militants have entered Pakistan so they called our guys and operation was done. 5 kidnappers were killed. It was pretty much same style operation as the son of Judge was recovered. But the couple is for sure not what they are claiming to be my guess is they are Christian Missionaries
 
There is something about this story that doesn't add up, they DO NOT look like victims who were held for 5 years in captivity.
The version of this story being published goes directly in Pakistan's favor,

  1. CIA and RSM are so impotent they couldn't rescue them inside Afghanistan.
  2. Gives credit to PA's professionalism that they rescued them unharmed from terrorists.
  3. Favors Pakistan's narrative that terrorists reside inside Afghanistan and crossover to Pakistan.
 
US can come miles in choppers into a fully equipped Pakistan, conduct operation near military academy kill obl, take his carcass with them back, but can't free hostages they have been tracking for five years in a country they claim they control and from where the attack on OBL happened..................Eyebrow raised beyond forehead
 
US-Canadian couple, three children freed from terrorist custody in Kohat
Zulfiqar AliUpdated October 13, 2017
59dfebab2ae96.jpg

A still image from a video posted by the Taliban on social media on Dec 19, 2016 shows Caitlan Coleman next to her husband Joshua Boyle and their two sons.

• Kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012, the woman gave birth to the children during captivity
• Operation conducted by Pakistan forces ‘based on actionable intelligence from US authorities’: ISPR

PESHAWAR: Security forces, with the support of US intelligence, freed an American woman, her Canadian husband and their three children from terrorists’ captivity.

The foreigners were recovered from Nawe Kali, a remote area about 15 kilometres southwest of Kohat town, on Wednesday night following a joint operation by security forces and intelligence agencies, officials said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the five foreign hostages had been recovered from terrorists during an operation based on intelligence shared by the United States. “US intelligence agencies had been tracking them and shared their shifting across to Pakistan on Oct 11, 2017, through the Kurram Agency border,” said the statement.

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However, sources told Dawn on Thursday that the hostages had been recovered from a settled area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the buzzing unmanned air vehicles had been seen in the skies of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and KP for the past 10 days.

American national Caitlan Coleman, 31, and her husband Joshua Boyle, 33, had been in the captivity of terrorists since 2012. They were kept inside Afghanistan. The couple had been kidnapped while travelling in the war-torn country as tourists. The woman was pregnant when kidnapped and gave birth to three children during captivity.

The officials said that one of the kidnappers had been taken into custody while his two accomplices fled after an exchange of fire with the security forces.

They said the vehicle carrying the hostages was intercepted near Kohat amid surveillance of drones in the area.

“One of the hostage-takers was injured in the exchange of fire near the town of Kohat,”
said an official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media. The ISPR blamed a “terrorist outfit” for kidnapping, but did not name it in its statement. However, US intelligence officials believed that the Haqqani network was behind it.

Residents in Kohat and adjacent tribal areas said drones had been seen flying over the areas for the past 10 days. They were also flying over Hangu district and Kurram and North Waziristan agencies, according to locals.

This was the deepest ever activity of drones inside Pakistani territory.

Media reported that the drones had appeared in the sky of Kohat on Wednesday that created panic among the residents. Following the movement of drones, Pakistan Air Force planes and helicopter gunships appeared to intercept ‘foreign objects’.

The officials said the vehicle carrying the hostages had entered through the Kurram tribal region and then moved to Kohat district. It was intercepted near Nawe Kali.

Kohat and adjacent districts house a large number of refugees and unregistered Afghan nationals.

“The success [of the operation] underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan’s continued commitment towards fighting this menace [of terrorism] through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy,” the ISPR statement said.

“The hostages were recovered through an intelligence-based operation by Pakistani troops,” it said, adding that the foreigners had been captured by terrorists in Afghanistan in 2012 and kept as hostages there.

The ISPR said the operation had been conducted by the army “based on actionable intelligence from US authorities”.

A video of the kidnapped couple was also released last year.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2017
 
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