Karachi: At least 18 workers were abducted, and another was injured after unidentified armed men attacked a marble mining site in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province on Sunday, police said.
The incident took place in the remote Naal area of Khuzdar district when armed men riding motorcycles and other vehicles stormed the mining site early in the morning.
No insurgent group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Though the police and provincial government are yet to officially confirm the incident, two police officers on condition of anonymity said 18 workers were taken away by the attackers.
“They came on bikes and vehicles and opened fire and then rounded up the workers present at the site and abducted 18 of them before fleeing,” a police officer said.
Another worker was injured in the attack, while most of those abducted belonged to nearby villages and areas, he added.
In a separate incident on Saturday, armed men abducted 20 trainee police officers after hijacking their bus near Mastung on the Quetta-Karachi highway.
The officers belonged to the Kalat Police Training Centre. Their whereabouts remain unknown.
The Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in abductions and attacks on civilians and security forces in recent years, prompting the government to intensify anti-terror operations.
