Armed Men Abduct 18 Marble Mine Workers in Balochistan's Khuzdar

A large group of armed men raided a marble mine in the Naal area of Balochistan's Khuzdar district overnight, holding workers at gunpoint and abducting 18 labourers along with the mine owner's son, police said.

Dawn reported that the labourers were taken from the mine, about 40 kilometres from Khuzdar city, with police describing the abduction as happening "on Sunday." The Daily Pakistan, citing an unnamed police official, put the raid "late Saturday night" instead, placing the attack within the same overnight window even if the exact hour is unclear.

How the raid unfolded

The attackers entered the mine's premises, held the workers at gunpoint and abducted 18 of them, officials told Dawn. When one labourer tried to flee, the attackers opened fire on him. The assailants then left with a loader and two vehicles. The abducted workers are locals from the nearby Wadh and Naal areas, according to Dawn's report.

Who was taken, and whose mine it is

The attackers also abducted the mine owner's son — named by Dawn as Sardar Alam Khan Bizenjo, and by the Daily Pakistan as Shah Mir Bizenjo, both citing police accounts of the incident. The Daily Pakistan identified the mine's owner as Sardar Aslam Bizenjo, a former National Party provincial minister and a tribal chief of the Bizenjo tribe. Neither outlet's police sources have said whether the family connection played any part in the attack.

No claim, a search under way

No group had claimed responsibility for the abduction as of publication, both outlets reported. Police have registered a case and opened an investigation, and security forces have launched a search operation in the Naal area to trace the missing workers. Officials have not said how large that operation is or whether any of the abducted men have been located.

Part of a pattern in the same district

Khuzdar and the surrounding districts have seen repeated abductions of workers at remote sites this year. Just a day earlier, armed men abducted 20 police recruits travelling home from a training centre in nearby Kalat on the Kalat-Nushki road. In September, gunmen killed a guard and abducted 12 workers at a construction camp elsewhere in Balochistan. A think tank's third-quarter report found violence-linked deaths across Pakistan rose 83 percent from the previous quarter, with Balochistan accounting for much of the increase. Security forces have also carried out counter-militancy operations in the province in recent weeks, including a raid in Barkhan district that the Counter-Terrorism Department said killed ten militants.

The same district was also hit by a magnitude earthquake on October 17 that damaged homes nearby, adding to what has been one of the roughest weeks for Khuzdar district this year.

What to watch

Security officials have not given a timeline for the search operation, and it is not yet known whether the attack was linked to the mine owner's political and tribal position, to the marble trade itself, or to the broader pattern of abductions for ransom that has recurred in the area. Build Better Pakistan will update this piece if police confirm the fate of the abducted workers or any group claims the attack.

Build Better Pakistan's Security Desk is tracking the search for the abducted workers and will update this piece if officials confirm new developments.