Dr Shakil Afridi moved to 'safer location' in secrecy

ISLAMABAD - Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped US track down al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad has been moved by authorities from a prison in Peshawar to an unknown safer location, an official and family member confirmed on Friday.

According to media reports, Afridi was moved from high-security prison by intelligence officials to the undisclosed location late Thursday, owing to security reasons.

Afridi has been imprisoned for almost eight years after his fake vaccination programme helped the Obama administration track and kill the Al Qaeda leader through operation Neptune Spear.

Afridi was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of ties to militants, though the doctor denies any such charge.

Afridi, who is in his mid-50s, had been living in solitary confinement in a small room in Peshawar's Central Jail.

One of his former lawyers was assassinated in 2015 in an attack claimed by militants.

US President Donald Trump had vowed during his election campaign that he would order Pakistan to free Afridi.

"I'm sure they would let them (him) out. Because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan," Trump told Fox News at the time.

Former ambassador of Pakistan to Washington, Husain Haqqani had remarked that America “left their man behind.”