The bodies of four abducted serving and former personnel from the Airport Security Force (ASF), police, army and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) were recovered during an operation in the Shaban mountains near Quetta on Wednesday, police said.
A senior Quetta police officer, speaking to Urdu News on condition of anonymity, said the bodies appeared to have been lying in the area for several days and that all four men had been shot dead after being abducted.
Police shifted the bodies to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Quetta, where they were identified as ASF Inspector Zubair Ahmed Shahwani, former CTD official Syed Khalil-ur-Rehman, retired Army Havaldar Muhammad Sadiq Panizai and Ziarat Police Constable Faridullah Kakar.
Police said Shahwani, who was posted at Islamabad Airport, had returned to Quetta on one month’s leave and was reported missing after leaving his home in Jinnah Town with Khalil-ur-Rehman on June 21.
His father lodged a missing-person report at Jinnah Town Police Station on June 24. Investigators said the two men were abducted on June 21 and taken to the mountainous area where their bodies were later recovered.
Constable Faridullah Kakar, who was posted at Mangi Police Station in Ziarat, was reportedly abducted while travelling home from duty, while Muhammad Sadiq Panizai, also from Ziarat, had been taken away by unidentified individuals in a separate incident, police said.
The bodies were recovered amid ongoing military operations in the mountainous areas of Harnai and neighbouring Ziarat following a series of attacks in the region.
Pakistani authorities have said drones, helicopters and other military assets are being used in the operations and claimed that more than 126 militants have been killed. The figure could not be independently verified.