Gunmen attack Duki camp, kidnap 11 workers, torch machinery

Armed men attacked a private construction company camp in the Palli area of Duki district, Balochistan, on the night between Friday and Saturday, kidnapping 11 workers and setting machinery on fire, according to Independent Urdu.

A senior Duki police officer, speaking anonymously, told Independent Urdu that the attackers exchanged fire with the camp's private security guards. The officer said one guard was killed and two people were wounded. Police said nine of the abducted workers are from Punjab and two are local.

Aaj News reported a separate series of assaults in Dera Bugti district. It said armed men attacked the residence of district council chairman Wadera Ghulam Nabi Shambhani, but the Bugti Aman Force repelled them. In the pursuit, 13 militants were killed, one Aman Force member died and three were wounded, Aaj News reported. At another private company camp in the same district, security personnel killed four more militants, with one more Aman Force member killed and two wounded.

Aaj News also carried the Duki camp attack, reporting that the assailants set all construction machinery on fire and took the 11 workers to an unknown location. Law enforcement agencies have blocked roads and launched a large-scale operation to recover the abducted workers and trace the attackers, according to Aaj News.

Independent Urdu reported that Duki and Harnai hold coal reserves and have been targeted for years by armed groups. It said banned militant outfits attack coal-carrying trucks, set them on fire, and kidnap workers. Repeated attacks have reduced coal production, forced hundreds of leases to close and left thousands of workers unemployed, Independent Urdu said. The figures could not be independently confirmed.