QUETTA: Authorities in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province have found and safely repatriated a Turkish national who was abducted two months ago, an official said on Saturday.
Balochistan, which has been the site of a long-running insurgency, has frequently witnessed kidnappings of and attacks targeting foreign nationals, infrastructure projects, security forces, police and non-native Pakistanis.
Salih Guljamal, who worked as a drilling operator with the National Resources Limited (NRL), a mining company working in Balochistan’s mineral-rich Chaghi district, was abducted by dozens of armed men, following a coordinated attack on a mining site that resulted in the killing of 10 people on April 23.
“The abducted Turkish national was recovered six days ago from Killin Passand Khan, a mountainous area located some 80 kilometers from Mastung city,” a senior government official in Mastung, who requested not to be named, told Arab News on Saturday.
“The Turkish national was later shifted to Quetta and after legal formalities he safely departed to Turkiye and has now rejoined his family.”
The official did not say whether Guljamal was freed during a security operation or he was released by his captives. No group claimed responsibility for the attack on the mining site in Chaghi either.
The development came days after an officer of Pakistan’s Airport Security Force (ASF), kidnapped a month ago, was found dead in Balochistan’s Kalat district, a police official said on Thursday.
Muhammad Waseem, 58, who hailed from the southern port city of Karachi, was kidnapped by armed men at Quetta-Karachi highway on May 23, when he was traveling to Quetta from his hometown.
Last month, four staffers of the University of Gwadar, including the vice chancellor, were kidnapped from Balochistan’s Mastung district by unidentified men, according to authorities. The kidnappers later released them.
