Twenty police trainees traveling between the Kalat and Mastung areas of Balochistan have been abducted by unidentified armed men. In a separate incident, an unmanned police outpost in the Qilla Abdullah district was demolished.
This incident further highlights the military and administrative failures in Balochistan, as well as the erosion of the state’s writ.
According to government officials, the personnel were undergoing training at the Kalat Police Training Center and were traveling from Kalat to Nushki in a private van while on weekly leave. Senior officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the abducted personnel hail from four districts within the Rakhshan Division—Washuk, Chagai, Kharan, and Nushki—with eight of them reportedly belonging to Kharan.
The personnel had taken the shorter ‘Sarband’ route from Kalat toward Nushki, where they were surrounded by armed men. After abducting the police trainees from within the jurisdiction of the Kalat district, the armed men transported them to the Gurgina/Kurdgap area of ​​the Mastung district before moving them on to an undisclosed location.
However, the armed men released the vehicle’s driver and two or three other civilian passengers a short distance away, while taking the police personnel with them.
Authorities state that efforts to recover the abducted personnel are underway; however, no armed group has yet claimed responsibility for the incident.
In recent times, a series of abductions targeting government and administrative personnel in Balochistan has effectively paralyzed the state machinery. It should be noted that last Thursday, unidentified armed men abducted Asadullah Kakar, the Commissioner of the Rakhshan Division, along with his driver, while they were traveling from Quetta to Kharan; they have yet to be recovered. Prior to this, on September 20, the Deputy Commissioner of Kharan and an Additional Sessions Judge from Panjgur were also abducted, though they were later released with a warning.
Meanwhile, in the Pankai area of ​​the Qilla Abdullah district, unidentified armed men demolished an unmanned police outpost.
According to police officials in Quetta, security forces launched an operation upon receiving information, following which the attackers fled toward Panjpai.
The situation on the ground bears witness to the fact that the writ of the government has completely collapsed across most parts of Balochistan, while the reach and control of pro-independence forces continue to expand day by day.
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