A video posted online Sunday purported to show a Chinese national who was kidnapped by Taliban-allied fighters in Pakistan last year asking for the Chinese government to help him get released.
The Associated Press reported that it received the video from a militant known to belong to a Taliban splinter group called Jaish al-Hadeed, or the "Contingent of Steel." The man appeared in the video resembled existing online photos of Chinese tourist Hong Xudong, who was kidnapped in Daraban, northwest Pakistan in May 2014, although his identity cannot be immediately verified.
In the video, the man asks the Chinese government to meet the ransom demands but did not mention a number.
Chinese authorities and the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad did not immediately comment on the video.
Hong, who comes from Hubei Province, went missing after entering Pakistan in April. He was believed to be abducted on May 19 in the town of Daraban on the outskirts of the Dera Ismail Khan district, which borders Pakistan's restive tribal regions. Pakistani police said that they found his passport, bicycle and belongings, AFP reported.
A Pakistani Taliban group commander, Abdullah Bahar, later claimed responsibility for the kidnap and said the man had been taken to a secret location on the Afghan border.
Bahar, who was later killed by a suspected US drone strike, said then the group would use the hostage to get comrades freed from Pakistani custody.
The Pakistan government launched a search and rescue operation last year.
