QUETTA: Armed men kidnapped a civil surgeon in Chaman on Saturday.

Sources said that Dr Mubashir Hassan was on a morning walk near his residence when four men forced him to accompany them on gunpoint.

Dr Hassan has been working at Chaman’s district hospital for a long time.

Police quoting an eyewitness said the armed men came in a vehicle and that Dr Hassan offered resistance but they soon overpowered him.

After the incident police launched a search operation in the area and took two suspects into custody.

The border with Afghanistan was closed after the incident and tribal elders are working with police to ascertain the whereabouts of the kidnapped surgeon.

As the news of Dr Hassan’s kidnapping reached Chaman’s hospitals, doctors went on strike in protest. The protesting doctors were joined in the protest by police personnel.

Members of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party marched on a road in protest against the kidnapping.

In Quetta, doctors in Provincial Sandeman Civil Hospital, Bolan Medical College Hospital Complex and Helper Eye Hospital have gone on strike in protest against the kidnapping.

Doctors’ protests were reported also from other cities of Balochistan.

Dr Sultan Tareen, the provincial president of Pakistan Medical Association, condemned the kidnapping of Dr Hassan and demanded of the government to take measures for his safe recovery.

Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai has taken notice of the kidnapping and asked law-enforcement agencies to ensure the recovery of Dr Hassan.

According to the family of Dr Hassan, no one had yet contacted them for any demand.