DSP among 3 martyred in Balochistan attacks

Six labourers abducted and seven heavy vehicles torched in coordinated attacks

QUETTA:

Three people, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), were martyred, a truck driver was injured, six labourers were abducted and five trailers along with two gas bowsers were torched in separate incidents across Balochistan, officials said on Tuesday.

The incidents took place in Barkhan, Kech and Chagai districts. Barkhan Superintendent of Police Abdul Haq said DSP Rakhni Murid Bugti was martyred when armed men opened fire on his police vehicle at Khatta Chowki while he was patrolling the area on Tuesday evening.

Following the incident, a heavy contingent of police, the Frontier Corps (FC), the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and other security personnel reached the scene and launched a search operation, police said.

In a separate incident, armed men intercepted a vehicle carrying seven labourers near Kalatak in Turbat, the district headquarters of Kech, on Monday night. The attackers shot dead Javed Khan, a resident of Swabi district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), and kidnapped the remaining six labourers.

Four of the kidnapped labourers belonged to Punjab, while two hailed from K-P. During the incident, a passer-by, Abdul Razzaq, a resident of Solband, was also martyred after being caught in the crossfire. Police and security forces launched a search operation to recover the abducted labourers.

Meanwhile, during the same night, armed men blocked the N-40 highway linking Quetta with Taftan at Padag in Chagai district. After opening fire outside a roadside hotel, the attackers set five trailers and two gas bowsers ablaze. A truck driver was injured in the firing.

Police and other law enforcement personnel launched search operations in Chagai soon after the attack. Investigators cordoned off the area and began efforts to trace the unidentified assailants. Officials said further investigations into all the incidents were under way.