Ten people, including a customs official and several residents from Punjab, were abducted by armed men from a picnic spot in the Shahban area of Quetta on Wednesday.
According to reports, a group of armed men surrounded the picnic area in Shahban, a suburb near Quetta’s Zarghoon region. Eyewitnesses said the men checked the identity cards of those present and initially detained fourteen individuals. After verification, they released four and took the remaining ten with them.
On Thursday, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a ‘pro-independence’ armed group, claimed responsibility for the abductions. In a statement to the media, BLA spokesperson Jeeyand Baloch said the BLA’s Fateh Squad conducted an intelligence-based operation in Shahban and detained ten individuals they identified as “suspicious.”
“The detained individuals are currently undergoing interrogation,” Jeeyand Baloch said. “A detailed statement regarding this operation will be released to the media soon,” he concluded.