Under threat: Eight coalminers kidnapped from Balochistan

Men were asleep in makeshift camps when armed men took them captive.

QUETTA:

A group of armed men kidnapped eight coalminers from the Shahrag area of the Harnai district, about 167 kilometres from Quetta in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to the Balochistan Tehsildar of Shahrag Sajjad Gul Kakar, coalminers were sleeping in their makeshift camps near the coalfield when a group of armed men surrounded the camp and abducted eight coalminers at gunpoint.

“Initial investigations suggest that one of the Baloch groups have kidnapped these coalminers,” Kakar told The Express Tribune.

The kidnappers had taken away the coalminers to mountainous area. “The coalminers belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkwa and a manhunt has been mounted in the area,” another senior official said.



He said groups often kidnap coalminers in order to bar companies from extracting coal and other resources.

A few years ago, Baloch groups warned companies against carrying out any project in Balochistan and threatened to target the companies if they engage in such activities.

However, no group has so far claimed responsibility for these kidnappings.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2013.