Abduction case: Five suspects killed in encounter in Pishin

Two levies personnel sustain injuries; official says others have been kidnapped.

QUETTA: Balochistan Levies personnel recovered four employees of the health department following an encounter with kidnappers in Pishin on Friday. The encounter left five kidnappers dead and two levies personnel injured.

A group of armed men had kidnapped three employees of the Balochistan Health Department. Those kidnapped were identified as technician Mohammad Asad and workers Noor Shah and Mohabbat Khan from the Hailkalzai Basic Health Unit. The same men had also kidnapped a lady health worker from the nearby Malayzai Basic Health Unit.

Security personnel tightened security on the National Highway in Pishin and Qila Saifullah after they were informed about the kidnapping. Levies personnel chased the kidnappers near Barshor and opened fire on them.

Five of the suspects were killed, while one was caught alive after an exchange of heavy fire.  Two Levies personnel also sustained injuries, according to Levies senior official Mohammad Amin. He added that investigations are under way.

Amin said that six workers of the Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) were also kidnapped in Pishin and had been shifted to Waziristan.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2011.