Updated on
Summary
A Pakistani student has been killed while 15 others held hostage during the ongoing wave of violence Kyrgyzstan on Sunday. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that there are about 1,500 Pakistanis present in Kyrgyzstan currently including 100 students; however he assured that efforts are on to get the students free. Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Qureshi said that due to summer holidays, most of the Pakistani students were not in the country, however, because of late examinations, 100 to 120 students were staying back. He said there is no confirmation yet of Pakistanis being taken hostage, however, some local channels in Pakistan were reporting that 15 Pakistani students were being held hostage. Qureshi said all measures were being taken to protect the Pakistani community present in Kyrgyzstan and that the Foreign Office was constantly in contact with the Pakistani ambassador in Kyrgyzstan. The deceased student belonged to Jhang, Foreing Office. Kyrgyzstan would send reserve forces and volunteers to its troubled south on Sunday after a third night of gun battles took the death toll to 80 in the Central Asian state's worst ethnic violence in two decades.
