Six workers abducted from mining site in Pakistan’s Balochistan

Six workers of a private mining company were abducted by armed men from a mining site in Pakistan's Balochistan province. Security forces launched a search operation as authorities investigated the latest kidnapping in the insurgency-hit region

Karachi: Authorities have launched a search operation after six workers of a private mining company were abducted from a mining site in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

The six men were abducted by unidentified armed men who stormed the mining site on Tuesday in the remote mountainous Zarghoon Ghar area of Harnai district.

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“The armed men stormed the worksite while work was in progress and took away six workers at gunpoint,” a police official said.

The incident triggered a search operation by law enforcement agencies.

All six workers belonged to another province and were of Pashtun background.

Previously, there have been several such incidents in which suspected militants belonging to different banned insurgent outfits abducted workers from construction and mining sites.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area, has several mountainous and remote regions from where insurgents belonging to banned outfits have been operating in recent years, mostly carrying out hit-and-run attacks and posing challenges for the security forces.

In May, insurgents kidnapped seven people, including two police personnel, in Balochistan’s gas-rich Dera Bugti area.

The abductions took place just three days after an Airport Security Force (ASF) officer and his associate were kidnapped from the Kalat area of the province.

The ASF officer’s body was found late last month in a remote area of Kalat.

Similarly, late last year, there were two major incidents in which labourers were abducted from construction sites in Mastung and Khuzdar.

These abductions highlight the challenges faced by security forces in Pakistan’s restive western province.