QUETTA: Four officials of international NGO Mercy Corps (MC) were kidnapped by unidentified armed men at gunpoint in the Shankai area of District Qillah Saifullah, said the Balochistan Home Department officials on Friday. The provincial home department sources told our sources that the NGO officials were on their way to Quetta from Zhob in their official vehicle when kidnapped.

The incident took place in Shankai area, some 80 kilometres from Quetta.

Qillah Saifullah police said four MC officials, including Project Manager Dr Asif Abbas, were coming back to Quetta after visiting a project in Zhob when kidnapped. Earlier, when the officials could not reach Quetta late Thursday night, the MC authorities approached the police and informed them about the missing persons.

Dr Asif Abbas came from Islamabad to visit the project. The other officials who were kidnapped included Iftikhar Shah and Habib Ahmed while the third name could not be ascertained.

Police claimed to have widened the scope of investigations and had cordoned off the Shankai area to trace out the captors and recover the victims. Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Durrani, while quoting eyewitnesses, said the kidnappers had taken the victims towards Zhob and he believed that the victims would be released soon. He added the district administration of Qillah Saifullah was making all-out efforts to trace the kidnappers and recover the kidnapped persons.

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