Violence and insecurity in Balochistan intensified this week with a grenade attack on police in Nushki and the abduction of a Deputy Superintended of Police (DSP) in Mastung district.
According to police, unidentified assailants targeted police officers conducting snap checks on Nushki Double Road with a hand grenade before fleeing the scene. Eight people, including five police personnel, were injured in the blast. The wounded were rushed to hospital, where one victim, identified as Abdul Nasir, later died of his injuries. Authorities said the area was cordoned off following the incident and a search operation has been launched.
In a separate development, police confirmed that Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rafiq Hamza Mengal went missing near Surab while travelling from Hub to Mastung on Tuesday evening. His driver reported the disappearance to local police after losing contact with him beyond Surab.
The case comes amid a series of similar incidents involving senior government officials in Balochistan. Assistant Commissioner of Ziarat, Mohammad Afzal, and his son remain missing, while Assistant Commissioner of Tump, Mohammad Hanif Noorzai, was recently released after four months in captivity. He had been abducted by the armed group Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF). However, the other two incidents have not been claimed by any group so far.
Balochistan has been the scene of a long-running insurgency and military operations. Security analysts say the rising number of enforced disappearances and abductions of government officers has raised fresh concerns over governance and state authority in the region.