On Saturday, unidentified armed men abducted 20 police recruits in Balochistan, one of the restive provinces of Pakistan. Local media gave this information quoting police officers.
The 20 police recruits were abducted by an unidentified armed group when they were traveling in a passenger van on the Quetta-Karachi highway in Mastung district, officials said. These recruits were taking training at Kalat Police Training Centre.
A senior official of the Balochistan government informed the daily 'Dawn' about the incident on the condition of anonymity. He told that these recruits were going to their homes on the weekend, when the gunman group carried out this incident on the way.
“Yes, 20 policemen, who were going home on the weekend, were taken away by armed men from a passenger van on the Quetta-Karachi highway in Mastung,” the officer said.
He told that all of them were riding motorcycles and were armed with automatic weapons. This gang stopped the van and took the recruits along with the van to an unknown place. However, the gunmen spared the van driver and three other passengers.
Police officials in Mastung also confirmed the kidnapping. He told that these recruits were associated with 'Levy's Force', which has now been merged with the police.
According to government officials, these abducted soldiers were residents of Rakhshan division. Security forces have started a search operation in the surrounding hilly areas to trace the abducted recruits. At present, no group has claimed responsibility for this kidnapping.
A day before this, Asad Ullah Kakar, Commissioner of Rakhshan Division in Kharan district of Balochistan, was kidnapped.
People have been on the streets for years demanding their rights in this troubled province of Pakistan. Pakistan has been protesting against the excesses of military forces and being deprived of essential basic facilities. This is the reason why they keep clashing with Pak military forces every day.
The process of kidnapping officers and policemen has also been going on for a long time. Recently, Kharan Deputy Commissioner Munir Ahmed Soomro was arrested. He was safely released almost two weeks later on 3 October. They were reportedly released after negotiations between local tribal elders and armed men who had abducted them from the Noshki-Kharan highway last month.
Meanwhile, on July 21, 2026, three Excise Department (Excise) officials were abducted after an attack on a checkpost in Chagai district of Balochistan.