QUETTA-
Two senior government officials were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Balochistan on Thursday, officials said on Friday.
The event took place in Tump town of Kechh district, some 1,000 kilometres southwest of Quetta.
According to Provincial Home Secretary Adil Gilani, “The deputy commissioner and the assistant commissioner of Kechh district were returning after a meeting with Iranian border officials when they were intercepted by dozens of armed men.”
The gunmen overpowered at least 18 staff and security personnel accompanying the two officials and ordered the convoy to follow them.
The staff and security personnel were later allowed to leave but the deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner were taken away by the kidnappers, added Gilani.
Another senior local official Abdul Fateh Bhangar confirmed the incident.
No group has so far claimed responsibility but Balochistan, one of Pakistan’s most unstable provinces, is rife with separatist and Islamist militants and is plagued by sectarian bloodshed.