QUETTA: Armed militants on Friday evening abducted six officials of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) from Balochistan's Killa Saifullah district.

A security official, who requested anonymity, told Dawn.com that the militants kidnapped the officials from the Gawal area of Killa Saifullah district.

They were identified as Engineer Haji Asad, Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Muhammad Ashraf, Muhammad Nabi, Sajjad Beg and two others.

The security official said that the men were on routine work when they were abducted.

A search operation has been launched for the recovery of the employees. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the kidnappings.

A PTCL spokesman told Dawn that the organisation is in touch with the authorities in this regard.

Armed militants had also kidnapped 10 people from the same area earlier in January this year.

Thus far, militants have freed seven people, while three are still being held hostage.

Security forces in Balochistan have launched a crackdown against militants in different parts of the province in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on a school in Peshawar.

Forces have also killed and arrested some militants affiliated with different banned outfits.

Recent kidnappings in Zhob and Killa Saifullah appear to be the reaction of security forces operations in the area.