Security forces launch fresh operation to recover abducted footballers in southwest Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistani security forces have launched a fresh operation in the southwestern mountainous region to recover six local footballers kidnapped by armed men last week, a government official said on Monday.

The footballers were on their way to take part in a local football tournament in southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday when unknown armed men intercepted their vehicle and took them away.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

The abductees are from the remote Dera Bugti district and were on their way to the nearby city of Sibbi to play a match.

Security forces have arrested 14 suspects in connection with the abduction and are being questioned, a top administrative official in Dera Bugti, Azhar Shahzad, told Anadolu over the phone.

He said inter-provincial borders have been sealed to prevent abductees from being moved to other provinces.

Meanwhile, citizens took out a rally on Monday in Dera Bugti to demand the safe recovery of the abducted footballers.

Mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistan's largest but poorest province. Security forces have long been facing a low-intensity rebellion by Baloch separatists, who claim the province had been “forcibly” incorporated into Pakistan, following the end of British colonial rule in United India in 1947.

The province is also a key route of the $64-billion CPEC project, which aims to connect China's strategically important northwestern Xinxiang province to Balochistan’s Gawadar port through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines for cargo, oil, and gas transportation.