Armed men reportedly established a checkpoint on the Harnai–Sanjavi Highway in Balochistan and abducted two men from Punjab while inspecting vehicles at Tor Kham Tangi.
According to reports, the armed men stopped vehicles and checked passengers’ identity cards before taking the two men to an undisclosed location.
Harnai police identified the abducted men as Asghar, son of Muhammad Asif, and Tariq. Both are reportedly residents of Chowk Qureshi in Muzaffargarh district, Punjab.
Police said the two men were non-local residents who worked as truck drivers. No one had claimed responsibility for the incident at the time of publication.
Such incidents have been reported in various parts of Balochistan amid a long-running conflict involving Baloch nationalist armed groups and Pakistani military and law-enforcement agencies. Baloch armed groups have periodically established temporary checkpoints on highways, inspected vehicles and carried out attacks on security installations, particularly in districts including Kachhi, Kalat, Nushki, Kech, Kharan and Mastung.
In September, armed checkpoints were reported across several districts of Balochistan, including Kharan, Kalat and Surab. Separate reports from Nushki indicated that armed men had entered the city and allegedly seized weapons from police personnel.
Similar incidents were reported in August, when armed men reportedly established checkpoints in Chagai and Mastung. Local sources said vehicle inspections in Chagai continued for more than four hours before the armed men left the area.
Separately, in mid-September, five residents of Punjab were abducted in Balochistan’s Killa Abdullah district. Local sources identified them as Inam Raza, Baqir Hussain, Mohammad Adnan, Mohammad Shehzad and Mohammad Azan, all residents of Muzaffargarh district, Punjab.