DUSHANBE, November 4, 2014, Asia-Plus – Tajik Embassy in Riyadh (Saud Arabia) is making every effort to free a Tajik female doctor, Gulrukhsor Rofiyeva, who was abducted by unknown people in central Yemen on October 29, Vafo Niyatbekov, the deputy head of the Tajik MFA information department, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, Tajik Embassy in Riyadh is currently on contact Yemeni law enforcement authorities and Russian medical company Zdrafexport, for which Gulrukhsor Rofiyeva works in the of Marib, central Yemen.
“Nobody has claimed responsibility for Gulrukhsor Rofiyeva’s disappearance so far,” Niyatbekov said Tuesday afternoon.
Gulrukhsor Rofiyeva’s relatives say she disappeared in the morning of October 29 on the way to work. Gulrukhsor Rofiyeva, 36, was supposed to return to Tajikistan on November 13.
We will recall that Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on October 30 that Tajik doctor has gone missing in central Yemen, and local media reports say she may have been abducted by tribal militants.
Abductions are common in Yemen, where hostages often are used by disgruntled tribesmen to press demands on authorities but Zdravexport employee Anvar Shamsiddinov told Radio Liberty that it is against local culture and traditions to abduct a female.
He expressed hope that Rofiyeva was taken to a remote settlement to provide medical assistance.
In 2011, doctors from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were abducted by tribal militants in central Yemen to protest air strikes against Al Qaeda militants.
