US aid workers abducted in Balochistan

Witnesses say there were 12 kidnappers.

QUETTA:

At least eight employees of a US-based non-governmental organisation were kidnapped in Surkhab area of Pishin district, some 50 kilometres from Quetta, on Monday night.

All employees from the American Refugee Committee were Pakistani nationals and were returning from an Afghan refugee camp in Pishin when they went missing, Balochistan Levies officials said.

“We do not have any idea about where they are,” Pishin’s Deputy Commissioner Mansoor Kakar said, adding that all efforts were being made to ensure their recovery.

The district administration officials and investigators were annoyed by the aid organisation because it informed the police about the abduction eight hours later.

Sources said that the victims were kidnapped around 10 pm on Monday night and the police was not informed until 2 am on Tuesday, giving the kidnappers enough time to take the men to a place far away. However, a search was mounted in the area.

Witness accounts said that there were 12 kidnappers.

Home Secretary Zafarullah Baloch said a team has been constituted under the supervision of the deputy commissioner to probe the incident and carry out a search operation with the help of residents.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2011.