ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army Thursday recovered five Western hostages including one Canadian, his US national wife and their three children from terrorists’ custody.

According to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement issued here, the hostages were recovered in an intelligence-based operation conducted by Pakistani troops.

They were captured by terrorists from Afghanistan during 2012 and kept as hostages there. The US intelligence agencies had been tracking them and shared their shifting across to Pakistan on Wednesday through Kurram Agency border.

The operation by Pakistani forces, based on actionable intelligence from US authorities was successful; all hostages were recovered safe and sound and are being repatriated to the country of their origin. The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan’s continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy, the ISPR statement

The success underscores the importance of timely intelligence sharing and Pakistan’s continued commitment towards fighting this menace through cooperation between two forces against a common enemy, the ISPR statement added.