PESHAWAR, Oct 14: The Taliban released on Thursday a video of a kidnapped professor appealing to the government to hold talks with militants and accept their demands to secure his release. Ajmal Khan, the Vice-Chancellor of Islamia College University in Peshawar, was kidnapped on Sept 7 when he was going to his office from his residence in Professors Colony.

In the video clip, aired by several private TV channels, Mr Khan is seen with two masked men armed with assault rifles standing behind him.

The professor said he had been kidnapped because he was a first cousin of Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan and also a government servant. “I am a heart patient and my prolonged captivity can cause serious health complication,” he said.—Bureau Report