Armed men abduct 18 workers from marble factory in Balochistan's Khuzdar: officials

Unidentified armed men abducted 18 workers from a marble factory in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district on Saturday evening, injuring one worker in a shooting, a police official told The Express Tribune on Sunday on condition of anonymity.

"The factory was located near Baisar Mountain and belonged to former provincial minister and National Party leader Sardar Aslam Bizenjo and his son, Shah Mir Bizenjo," the official said.

According to the official, dozens of armed men arrived at the factory late on Saturday night in vehicles and on motorcycles before entering the premises and forcibly taking away the workers.

One worker attempted to escape, but the attackers opened fire, hitting him in the leg. The injured man was identified as Rashid, whose condition was reported to be out of danger by medical sources, the official added.

"The attackers also took away two vehicles and a loader from the factory in the remote Nal area, around 35 to 40 kilometres from Khuzdar city," he said.

Preliminary information suggested that the abducted workers belonged to different areas of Khuzdar.

No armed group had claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of reporting. Security forces launched a search operation in the area, while police registered a case and began an investigation. Authorities said efforts were underway to recover the abducted workers, the official added.

Read: Armed men abduct 20 trainee police personnel travelling from Kalat to Nushki: officials

The incident came a day after unidentified armed men abducted 20 trainee police personnel travelling in a passenger van on the Quetta-Karachi Highway in Mastung district.

According to officials, the personnel were former Levies members undergoing training at the Kalat Police Training Centre. They were travelling in a private van from Kalat to Nushki to spend the weekend with their families when armed men intercepted their vehicle along the shorter Sarband route.

The attackers took the recruits to an undisclosed location after moving them towards the Gargina-Kardgap area of Mastung, officials told The Express Tribune. The van’s driver and three civilian passengers were released, while efforts to recover the abducted personnel were underway. No group had claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The latest incident also followed several abductions of workers associated with construction and development projects across Balochistan in recent months.

In September, armed men abducted 12 labourers from a road construction company’s camp in the Palari area of Nana Sahib Ziarat in Duki district. A private security guard was killed and two people were injured during the attack, while the assailants also set fire to construction machinery.

In July, six labourers abducted in the Kalatak area of Kech district were found dead near Turbat after armed men intercepted their vehicle. The attackers had shot dead another worker at the time of the abduction.

Earlier, in October 2025, armed men abducted 18 labourers from a construction company’s camp and crushing plant in the Naal area of Khuzdar, setting vehicles and heavy machinery on fire. Nine labourers had also been abducted from a construction site in Mastung that month.