According to reports, six miners working in different coal mines have been reportedly kidnapped by unidentified armed men from the Machh area of Balochistan, on Sunday.
“Pamphlets were distributed to coal miners a few days earlier by a militant group instructing them to close their work in the area,” a police official said.
The kidnapped miners were identified as Sartaj, Jamadar, Rozi Khan, Barkat Ali, Amanullah, and Jamal Khan Kakar. The Mach Police were informed by their co-workers about the incident.
According to sources, A large number of armed men entered the Mach mines area and kidnapped six coal miners. The unidentified armed men disappeared into the mountains. Security forces rushed to the spot and launched a search operation in the area.
It is to be noted that a Baloch “pro-independence” armed group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is active in the region and the group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on Pakistani law-enforcement forces and government installations in the past. BLA has warned the mining companies and coal miners to stop extracting coal in the region, as the group says that such acts are exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources without the consent of the local population. The nationalist armed groups and political parties claim that “Pakistan has forcefully occupied Balochistan and it is exploiting natural resources of the region without benefiting its citizens.
While Sunday’s kidnapping incident has not been taken by any group so far.