In yet another sign of the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan, the Russian Embassy in Islamabad has announced it is verifying claims that a Russian travel blogger has been abducted by the Hafiz Gul Bahadar faction of the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The militant group released a statement on October 26, 2024, along with a photo of the captive, identifying him as a “Russian soldier” kidnapped during an operation by Ghazwatul Hind Mujahideen—an affiliate of the Bahadar faction that operates across Pakistan’s North Waziristan and Afghanistan’s Khost region. This group has worked closely with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since 2021, jointly carrying out attacks in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber district, and Balochistan.
The Pakistan Army dismissed the kidnapping claim as “unsubstantiated and fake,” with local authorities in Dera Ismail Khan denying knowledge of the incident. However, sources close to the Russian Embassy confirm that the missing person could be Igor Babko, a travel blogger from St. Petersburg known online as Vasya Shchupaltse, who went silent after entering Dera Ismail Khan on October 24. Two days later, his family sounded the alarm.
The Russian Embassy, in a post on X on October 29, stated that it is still in the process of verifying the reports.
This incident reflects the worsening security landscape in Pakistan, where rogue militant groups, once nurtured by the Pakistan Army, have slipped beyond its control. The Hafiz Gul Bahadar group, originally aligned with the Paki establishment, now operates with impunity, leaving civilians and foreign nationals vulnerable to abductions and attacks. The collaboration between the Bahadar faction and the TTP further exposes the military’s failure to manage the very terror networks it once cultivated.
The Pak Army’s reliance on these in-bred militant factions has backfired spectacularly, with attacks spilling beyond tribal areas into key districts like Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber and even Balochistan. These terror outfits, now functioning autonomously, pose a direct threat not only to Pashtuns but also to foreign visitors.