Efforts to recover them underway, say officials to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity
A police officer stands guard along a road leading to the border crossing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan in Balochistan Province, in Chaman on February 27, 2026. Photo: Reuters
QUETTA:
Twenty trainee police personnel on Saturday were abducted by unidentified armed men while travelling between Kalat and Mastung in Balochistan, provincial government and police officials told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.
“The personnel were former Levies members who joined the police following the merger of the police and Levies forces. They were receiving training at the Kalat Police Training Centre and were travelling from Kalat to Nushki in a private van for their weekly leave,” the officials said.
According to officials, the personnel had taken the shorter Sarband route from Kalat to Nushki, which connects Kalat and Mastung with Nushki, when armed men intercepted and surrounded their vehicle, the source added.
They further added that the armed men abducted the personnel from within the limits of Kalat district and took them to the Gargina-Kardgap area of Mastung district before moving them to an undisclosed location.
“The armed men later released the van’s driver and three other civilian passengers some distance away, taking the police personnel with them,” they said.
The abducted personnel belonged to the districts of Kharan, Nushki, Chagai and Washuk in Rakhshan Division. They included eight personnel from Kharan, five from Nushki, four from Chagai and three from Washuk.
Efforts to recover the abducted personnel have been launched, according to the source.
Read: 3 govt employees kidnapped in Balochistan
On September 26, one private security guard was killed, two people were wounded, and 12 workers were abducted when heavily armed assailants raided a construction company’s base in the Palari area of Nana Sahib Ziarat in Duki district, Duki Superintendent of Police (SP) Mansoor Ahmed Buzdar said.
On July 30, the bodies of six labourers abducted from the Kalatak area of Kech district were recovered from the Nasirabad area on the outskirts of Turbat, Balochistan, Home Department media adviser Babar Yousafzai said.
According to Turbat police, the labourers were abducted by unidentified armed men after their vehicle was intercepted near Kalatak in Turbat. The attackers shot dead Javed Khan, a resident of Swabi district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, immediately after the abduction and took the remaining six labourers with them.
Terrorism is a growing problem for Pakistan, with the number of attacks rising every year since 2022, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), a global monitoring organisation. Data from ACLED shows attacks in Pakistan rose nearly fourfold to 2,425 in 2025 from 658 in 2022, and over the same period, TTP attacks increased more than sevenfold to 838 from 118.
Although K-P has borne the brunt of terrorism, Balochistan has also remained a major target of Indian proxies, which often target civilians and military installations in the province.
In one such attack on the last day of 2025, terrorists targeted innocent civilians in Balochistan’s Gwadar and Kharan districts, where 18 people, including women, children, the elderly and labourers, embraced martyrdom.
Read More: Arrested terrorist says he was paid Rs25,000 to carry out attacks on Baloch people
The forces continued operations across the provinces against what the state describes as Indian-sponsored terrorists and their proxies. Still, despite these efforts, the groups have continued to target civilian and defence installations.
Last month, in another such attack, at least 30 people, including 27 police personnel, were martyred when terrorists identified by the state as the Indian proxy Fitna al-Hindustan ambushed police personnel deployed in the Kach Mangi Phase III area of Ziarat, triggering hours-long gun battles. The attackers also abducted several civilians and police personnel after the assault.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Police launched a joint operation, which remains underway, with forces intensifying action against terrorists across the province.
