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Man in burqa held in Pakistan

By the CNN Wire Staff
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Authorities: German national tried to fool police at checkpoint
  • Girl, two tribesman accompanied man in burqa
  • Germany looking into the report into the incident
RELATED TOPICS
  • Pakistan
  • North Waziristan
  • Germany

(CNN) -- A German national wearing a burqa was taken into custody by Pakistani security forces while trying to escape from a security check post in northwestern Pakistan, a government official told CNN Tuesday.

The German, two local tribesmen and a six-year-old girl were traveling in a car from Mir Ali, North Waziristan, to Bannu, Kyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Monday, said Zahir Shah, a senior government official in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Shah said the German was attempting to deceive security forces by giving the impression a tribal family was traveling in the car.

The German was wearing a full-body sewing cloth that Muslim women wear for cultural and religious reasons. He also was carrying the girl. He was sitting in the front seat of the car while two other local tribesmen were sitting in the back seat.

Security forces at the check post of the Bannu district examined the car and detained the German and the tribesmen.

Shah said the German was traveling without necessary documents such as a passport and emphasized that no foreigner can go to the tribal area without getting permission from authorities.

The German Foreign Ministry is aware of the reports and has asked the German Embassy in Islamabad to investigate. The embassy has made contact with the Pakistani authorities.