QUETTA: Unknown attackers set five coal-laden trucks on fire on the National Highway in the Mangi area of Ziarat, and kidnapped three persons, including a police officer.

Police officials said the armed assailants intercepted five trucks on the National Highway linking Ziarat with Harnai.

The trucks were carrying coal from the Harnai coalfields to Punjab.

“After checking the vehicles, the armed men set all five trucks on fire, completely gutting them,” a police official told Dawn.

SHO kidnapped from Ziarat; ASF officer abducted in Kalat

He added that the armed men also intercepted a car and kidnapped all three persons travelling in it.

“The SHO of Harnai is also among the kidnapped persons,” a senior police officer in Quetta told Dawn.

He said the armed men escaped from the area after burning the trucks and carrying out the kidnapping.

Security forces launched a search operation to trace the attackers.

Separately, an officer of the Airport Security Force (ASF) who holds a key position at Quetta airport, was also abducted by unidentified men while en route to Karachi.

Home Department official Babar Yousafzai confirmed the incident to Dawn, saying that the officer and a companion were taken away at gunpoint after their vehicle was intercepted in the Kapoto area of Kalat district on the National Highway.

The kidnappers reportedly released the driver of the vehicle and another passenger, who later informed Kalat police about the incident.

No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping so far.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2026