Government schoolteacher kidnapped in Kech

QUETTA: A government high school teacher was kidnapped by a group of armed men in the Kech area of Turbat on Monday.

The teacher, identified as Rafiq Oman, was on his way to school when the group of armed men intercepted his vehicle.

“He was the teacher of a state-run school,” a senior official said, adding that Levies personnel have started a search operation in the area.

Previously in May, an armed group based in Panjgur, Balochistan’s western district, threatened 23 English Language Learning Centers to shut down and stop imparting co-education and teaching in English, which they say is ‘Haram (prohibited) in Islam’.

The English Language Learning Centers remained closed for three days after receiving the threats. Hundreds of protestors staged a sit-in in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office. District administration and police officials assured the protestors that they will arrange foolproof security for the centers and the schools were reopened shortly after. However, attendance at the schools was comparatively low.

The Panjgur and Kech regions are known as centers of learning and the ‘intellectual capital of Balochistan’.