QUETTA, Feb 23: A police officer, his two guards and driver were taken hostage for hours by armed tribesmen in the Qila Abdullah area on Saturday.
The incident took place after personnel of law-enforcement agencies arrested some tribesmen for their alleged involvement in a kidnapping case. Armed tribesmen blocked the Quetta-Chaman highway in protest against the arrest and demanded their immediate release. ASP Saleem Marwat reached there and tried to negotiate with the protesters. However, the armed men overpowered the official, his two guards and driver.
Police and law-enforcement agencies rushed to the site immediately and cordoned off the area.
The hostage personnel were got released after four hours of talks with tribal elders. The sources said the local administration had assured the elders that the arrested tribesmen would be freed soon.
BLAST: A Frontier Corps man suffered serious injuries in a landmine explosion in the Kohlu district’s Kahan area on Saturday.
“The FC man lost a leg and received other injuries in the blast,” sources said.
Meanwhile, five rockets landed near a police station in the Jaffarabad district. Two powerful explosions were also heard in Quetta and Turbat, but the cause or site of the explosion could not be ascertained, police said.
