( CNN ) -- An anti-drone activist and journalist from Pakistan has been released , more than a week after he was abducted from his home in Rawalpindi . Kareem Khan told reporters Friday how he was abducted by armed men who showed up at his family 's home in the early hours of February 5 , and then tortured him while he was in captivity . Khan , from the tribal area of North Waziristan , lost his son and brother to a 2009 CIA drone strike , and had been set to travel to Europe to meet with parliamentarians when he disappeared , lawyer Shazad Akbar said in a news release . He was also involved in legal proceedings against the Pakistani police concerning their failure to investigate the killing of his relatives . At a news conference held only hours after he was freed , Khan told how between 18 and 20 armed men kidnapped him from his home . `` The men banged at our house door , broke the lock and barged in , '' he said . `` They held guns to me and my family and told us to put our hands up . Took me to a car , handcuffed me , blindfolded me and drove off . `` My eyes still hurt from the tightness of the blindfold . My temples , eyes and forehead are all in pain because of how tight the blindfold was . My feet were constantly shackled and my feet were constantly handcuffed . '' 'Hung upside down ' Khan said he was not able to pinpoint where he was taken , nor who his abductors were . The scene of his torture was an underground room , he said . `` They abused me using vulgar expletives . Hung me upside down and sat on me while one other person beat my feet , '' he said . He could hear other people while he was in the torture cell , he said . Khan said his questioners `` did n't mention drones , did n't mention my family . Only asked me about some names I could n't recognize and what connection I had to them . `` I could not tell if my captors were from the intelligence agencies , they were from all ethnicities and did not give away anything that could identify them . '' Khan said he had been told not to speak to the media but that he was unafraid . `` I brought my children to the city of Rawalpindi from Waziristan to provide safety to them but now we do n't feel safe anywhere , '' he said . `` I am going to Europe to highlight how my people are being abused by drone strikes . Our brothers and children are peaceful citizens who are being targeted . We are not terrorists that are being killed . '' Charity : Serious questions to answer . Reprieve , a UK-based charity that provides legal support to prisoners unable to pay for it themselves , said Khan intends still to go ahead with his trip to Europe this week . He was due to speak with German , Dutch and British parliamentarians about his personal experience of drone strikes . Reprieve legal director Kat Craig said it was a `` huge relief '' that Khan had been freed , although his mistreatment was deeply concerning . `` No one should have to suffer as he and his family have done for simply trying to get to the truth about the deaths of their loved ones , '' she said . `` Serious questions remain for the Pakistani government on how this was allowed to happen . '' Khan spoke to CNN in December 2010 about the airstrike a year earlier that had targeted his home in Machikhel , a village in North Waziristan . Khan said the missiles killed his 35-year-old brother , a teacher with a master 's degree in English literature ; his 18-year-old son , and several others . He filed a $ 500 million lawsuit against the U.S. government . CNN 's Chandrika Narayan and Saleem Mehsud contributed to this report .
Anti - drone activist and journalist Kareem Khan is freed , two days after his abduction . Khan says he was seized by armed men , taken to a basement and tortured . His abductors held him upside down , beat his feet and shackled him , he says . Khan was due to travel to Pakistan to talk to lawmakers about drone strikes that killed relatives .