A police officer was killed and at least 11 people were abducted in separate attacks in Balochistan, provincial authorities said on Tuesday, as security forces launched search operations in multiple districts.
According to the Balochistan government, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Murid Bugti, a senior police officer, was killed after being abducted along with his gunman in the Khatke area of Barkhan district.
Balochistan Interior Minister Mir Ziaullah Langove confirmed the incident, telling Independent Urdu that outlawed terrorists of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) had set up a checkpoint in the area.
“They abducted DSP Murid Bugti and his gunman as they were passing through, after which they killed him,” Langove said.
Shahid Rind, political affairs adviser to the Balochistan chief minister, said a search operation against militants was underway in Rakhni and additional security personnel had been deployed.
Security forces had cordoned off the area and launched a search operation, he said, adding that operations against militants would continue until their “logical conclusion”.
In a separate incident on Monday, armed men abducted seven labourers travelling in a vehicle after blocking the national highway at Kalatak near Turbat, according to Balochistan Home Department spokesperson Babar Yousafzai.
Yousafzai said one of the abducted labourers was shot dead, while the remaining six were taken away. Four of the abductees are from Punjab and two are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said.
A local passer-by, Abdul Razzaq, was also killed after being caught in an exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers.
Separately, company officials said that four people, including project manager Aftab Ahmed Mangi, were abducted three days earlier from a construction site in Khuzdar.
The project is part of the Asian Development Bank-supported Emergency Flood Assistance Project. The other abductees were identified as Saeedullah, Abdullah Solangi and driver Mohiuddin.
