Two Chinese kidnapped in Pakistan ‘were preachers, not teachers’
Islamic State claims to have killed the pair, whom Pakistani authorities now say were abusing the country’s visa system
Two Chinese nationals abducted in Pakistan last month, whom Islamic State claims to have murdered, were preachers who had abused the visa system, Pakistan said on Monday.
This contradicts earlier reports that they were teachers.
The Pakistani interior ministry identified the two as Lee Zing Yang, 24, and Meng Li Si, 26, Reuters reported from Islamabad.
It said they were pretending to be learning the Urdu language from a Korean national but “were actually engaged in preaching”. It did not say what kind of preachers they were.
The two were abducted on May 24 in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.
Lu Kang, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said earlier on Monday that China was still in the process of confirming details about the pair with the Pakistani side.