QUETTA: Unidentified gunmen attacked a marble mining site in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province and kidnapped at least 18 local laborers, a senior police official said on Sunday, amid an uptick in kidnappings of government officials and laborers in the mineral-rich region.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province that borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been the site of a long running separatist insurgency and has witnessed an uptick in violence over the recent years.

The latest incident took place in Naal, a mountainous area located some 40 kilometers (24-miles) from Khuzdar city, where dozens of unidentified armed men riding on motorbikes and vehicles stormed a marble mining factory.

“Eighteen laborers belonging to various villages of Khuzdar district were kidnapped,” a senior police officer told Arab News on condition of anonymity.

“During the attack one laborer identified as Rasool Bukhsh was injured following gunfire by the unidentified attackers, who later took him away with other abductees.”

Police were trying to locate the kidnapped workers.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the factory and kidnapping of the laborers.

This is the second major incident of kidnapping in Balochistan in last two days. At least 20 police constables were abducted by unidentified armed men in Mastung district when they were returning from Kalat’s police recruitment center on Friday, an official said.

A day earlier, unidentified armed men abducted Asad Ullah Kakar, commissioner of Balochistan’s Rakhshan Division, while he was traveling from Quetta through Kharan district.

Militant groups, including Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), have also frequently targeted security forces, law enforcers and government installations in the restive region.

Separatist groups accuse Islamabad of exploiting the resource-rich province without adequately benefiting its residents, allegations the federal government denies. Pakistan has also accused India of supporting separatist militants, a charge New Delhi denies.