QUETTA: Three excise officials have been abducted at gunpoint following an attack on their department’s checkpost on the Dalbandin–Taftan Highway in Balochistan’s Chagai district, police sources told Dawn on Tuesday.

According to the sources, the attack was carried out by unidentified men on Monday evening.

They said around 30 armed men surrounded the checkpost that was set up temporarily for routine checking, held the officials on duty at gunpoint and later abducted them. The sources added that the attackers also took away two official vehicles and weapons.

Police and other law enforcement personnel rushed to the site after being informed of the incident and cordoned off the area, the sources said, adding that a search operation has been launched to trace the attackers and ensure the safe recovery of the abducted officials.

They said an investigation was under way to ascertain the identity of the assailants and determine the route they used to flee.

The incident takes place as Balochistan continues to face security challenges.

Earlier this month, security forces and law enforcement personnel jointly launched Operation Shaban in Balochistan in retaliation for a deadly attack on a police post at the Mangi Dam pumping station in Ziarat on July 6. During that assault, armed attackers kidnapped and killed 27 police officers.

A monthly security assessment released in early June by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) said that after two consecutive months of improvement, Pakistan’s security situation deteriorated sharply in May, driven primarily by escalating terrorist violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The report said Balochistan emerged as the most affected province during the month. The province recorded 71 terrorist attacks, compared with 34 in April, representing a 109pc increase.

The deteriorating security situation was further reflected in a surge in kidnappings, it said. Of the 54 abductions reported nationwide during May, 52 occurred in Balochistan alone, highlighting the growing operational reach and confidence of terrorist groups in the province, it said.

On July 9, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that the country’s civil and military leadership had taken a “mutual and singular decision” to end terrorism after multiple major terrorist incidents in Balochistan.

He made the remarks at a meeting in Quetta of the Provincial Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, with Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir also present.

PM Shehbaz’s statement came a day after the military Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry addressed a press conference, pointing the finger squarely at India and Afghanistan for being behind recent attacks in Balochistan.

He specifically mentioned “three major terrorist incidents” in recent days — an armed attack on the outskirts of Quetta on July 5, an assault on a police post in Ziarat on July 6, and an ambush of an army convoy in Bela on July 7.