I thought they would kill me. Every day was the fear of death. It can't be described in words. It can only be seen in movies.
After a year and a half, UN official Lt Col (retd.) Sufiul Anam returned home on Wednesday (July 9) evening after being freed from Al-Qaeda hostage in Yemen. Sufiul Anam said these things to reporters after landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
He said, I could not imagine that I would be able to return home with my life after being abducted by terrible terrorists. The last 18 months have been in a very dangerous environment. It seemed that terrorists would kill me at any moment.
Sufiul Anam said, I was abducted a year and six months ago while returning from my professional duties. I had four Yameni accomplices. An indescribable day has passed. Every day was the fear of death. It can't be described in words. It can only be seen in movies.
Sufiul was working as the Field Security Coordination Officer (Chief) of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security in Aden, the capital of Yemen. He was abducted while working in the war-torn country on February 11 last year. That day Sufiul Anam and four other UN workers were returning to Aden after a UN field mission. At that time, he was kidnapped by members of the militant organization Al-Qaeda from Yemen's Mudiyah province. The militants had demanded 30 lakh dollar as ransom for Sufiul Anam.
A five-member delegation from Bangladesh went to Yemen in search of Sufiul Anam. He was rescued and taken to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. He returned home from there today.