QUETTA: Armed men abducted 14 workers of a construction company working on a government project and at a crushing plant at two different places in Khuzdar and Barkhan districts of Balochistan, police said on Sunday.
A senior police officer said the armed men barged into the construction company’s camp in Mula area, some 60 km from Khuzdar, and kidnapped 11 workers including a project manager.
“Six labourers belonged to Sindh province who were working with the company while five others are residents of Khuzdar and other areas of the province,” the police official said.
He said the armed men attempted to take away arms and ammunition of the police station but police personnel offered resistance, forcing the kidnappers to flee.
Six out of 11 labourers have been identified as Project Manager Gul Sher, Ghulam Sarwar, Abdul Malik Bugti, Maulana Bakhsh, Muhammad Irfan and Ikhtiar.
Security forces reached the area after getting information of the incident and launched a search operation in the area. However, no arrest of kidnappers or recovery of labourers was reported despite the passage of 24 hours.
The second kidnapping incident took place in Barkhan district where officials said over 30 armed men attacked the crushing plant in Dhola Nadi area and after damaging the plant they kidnapped three workers and fled from the area.
“Armed men abducted three labourers working at the crashing plant in Musakhail area,” Barkhan deputy commissioner Abdullah Khosa said, adding that the kidnappers also damaged the plant.
They also took away three police personnel posted at a check post along with their weapons.
Soon after the incident, SSP Barkhan Dr Saad Afridi reached the area along with a heavy police contingent and launched a search operation.
“Prompt response of the police forced the armed men to release the kidnapped police personnel and escape to nearby mountains along with three labourers,” the SSP said, adding that the operation is continuing in the mountainous area. “Soon the labourers will be recovered,” he said.
Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2026
