Four abducted footballers rescued in Balochistan

QUETTA: Four out of six young abducted footballers have been rescued by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in Balochistan, ARY News reported on Friday.

In a major development, the joint efforts of the LEAs, local administration and the provincial government bore fruit to recover the abducted footballers.

The local footballers had been abducted by unidentified gunmen when they were travelling to Sibi – Balochistan on September 9.

The recovered footballers have safely reached their homes. The authorities said that the two remaining footballers will also be rescued.

Earlier in the month, Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti asserted that an operation was underway in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti to recover six footballers, who were kidnapped while on their way to Sibi.

In a statement issued by interior ministry on X (formerly Twitter), the area had been cordoned off and an operation was underway for the footballers’ recovery since yesterday.

The ministry quoting Sarfraz Bugti as saying that all resources were being employed for the players’ recovery, and directives had been issued to all relevant departments to take measures for the abductees’ recovery.

“Those spreading unrest will not be able to escape the grip of law. I will not be able to sit in peace until they are recovered,” the statement quoted the minister as saying.

It is pertinent to mention here that six footballers were abducted in Dera Bugti’s Jani Bair area while they were travelling to Sibi to participate in the qualifying round of the All Pakistan Chief Minister Gold Cup football tournament.

Sources claimed that armed men intercepted the vehicles in which the players were travelling and took the footballers away at gunpoint. Five of the six players were identified as Aamir Bugti, Faisal Bugti, Sohail Bugti, Yasar Bugti and Sheraz Bugti.

The provincial caretaker home minister, Mir Zubair Ahmed Jamali, said security forces had been dispatched to the area to launch a search operation and recover the kidnapped footballers as soon as possible.