Taliban committed numerous atrocities: Shahbaz Taseer

Shahbaz Taseer, who was held by the Taliban for nearly five years, has said that Taliban had committed numerous atrocities on him during his captivity but Allah mighty saved him. In an interview to BBC on Monday, Shahbaz Taseer said the abductors wanted to ask for bank details and inflict torture. "They were heartless. I used to pray to Allah to give me strength to bear this pain," he said.
To a question he said that he was with Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan after that he went to the hands of Taliban. He said that Taliban was even not providing him medicines during illness. He said that he was suffered from malaria but he was not given medicines. To another query he said that he always trusted in Allah and prayed for his release from the custody of Taliban. He said that a man met him in jail, who helped in reaching Kachlak, Balochistan, from where he contacted home.
He said that he could not forget the five long years he spent in captivity. He said that he also escaped drone attacks. He said presently he is meeting his friends and giving time to his family. He recalled his painful ordeal under Uzbek and Taliban militants and how he managed to survive all those years. He revealed that he was flogged more than 500 times during the early days of his captivity.
"After flogging, they (militants) cut my back with blades and slashed meat of my body with pliers before removing my finger and toe nails. "Once I was buried for seven days, then for three days and again for another three days," he recalled. Shahbaz Taseer said that they used to film the torture and would tell him in advance to be ready for the torture and filming. "I felt as if I was under the protection of Almighty and was safe in a shell."
To a question, he said that he was held hostage by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) militants and remained with them unless they clashed with Afghan Taliban for pledging allegiance to Islamic State. "Uzbeks decided to side with the Daesh because in their opinion, Daesh's caliphate was rightful compared to Afghan Taliban," he said. "By the Grace of God, I was able to walk free due to clashes between militant groups."
He denied paying any ransom to his abductors. "They abducted me from Lahore and took me to Waziristan's Mir Ali area and used to shift my location every month from there," said Shahbaz. "When these Uzbeks attacked Karachi airport I was there in Mir Ali, but as they knew how Pakistan's government and army will respond, they shifted me to Datta Khel, I was there till February 2015," Shahbaz Taseer said.