QUETTA, Nov 17: Six Customs personnel and three Levies men were kidnapped in Gwadar and Kharan districts of Balochistan on Sunday.

According to officials, about 12 armed men on motorcycles and in a Land Cruiser stormed a post of Pakistan Customs at Zero-Point in the coastal town of Jiwani, close to the Pakistan-Iran border, in Gwadar and kidnapped Inspector Jamali and five other personnel deployed there to check vehicles.

They also took away official vehicles and weapons.

“Five soldiers and an inspector were deployed at the checkpost near the Pakistan-Iran border,” Home Secretary Asad Gilani told Dawn, adding that the incident took place in Singsir area.

Gwadar’s Deputy Commissioner Dr Tufail Baloch said the kidnappers had taken the Customs men to a border area between Turbat and Gwadar. He said security forces had launched a search operation in the area. “We are making all efforts to trace the kidnapped personnel.”

No-one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but the home secretary said the involvement of militants could not be ruled out. He claimed that drug smugglers operating in the area were not involved in it.

The officials said security forces had blocked routes between Gwadar and Turbat, but whereabouts of the culprits could not be traced.

In a late night incident, armed men attacked a Levies Force checkpost in Kharan and kidnapped three personnel.

According to sources, the attackers were on motorcycles. They snatched official weapons from the Levies men and took them away on gunpoint.