US, Afghan forces find kidnapped son of former Pakistani PM

Ali Haider, son of Yousaf Raza Gilani, was kidnapped three years ago by suspected Taliban militants in Pakistan.

US and Afghan forces have found the kidnapped son of a former Pakistani Prime Minister alive in an operation in Afghanistan, the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Ali Haider Gilani, son of Yousaf Raza Gilani, \"has been recovered today in a joint operation carried out by the Afghan and US security forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan\", the statement said, three years after he was kidnapped by suspected Taliban militants in Pakistan.

Read: Former Pakistani PM Gilani speaks to son abducted 2 years ago

Ali Haider Gilani, 29, was seized by suspected Taliban militants in a hail of gunfire on the outskirts of Multan in Punjab province on May 9, 2013, two days before the national election in which he was campaigning. Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire before abducting Ali Haider Gilani in a black Honda car.

The ex-Prime Minister’s family is one of the most powerful in Multan and an important clan in the PPP, which lost the 2013 election.