Three Rescue 1122 officials abducted by armed men in Tank

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Three Rescue 1122 officials were abducted by unidentified armed men near Safdar village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district on Thursday evening, officials said.

Deputy Commissioner Tanveer Ahmad confirmed the incident, while officials said an investigation was under way.

According to officials, the abduction took place in the jurisdiction of the Syed Mureed Akbar police station. Suspected kidnappers had set up a roadblock on the roadside and stopped the Rescue 1122 team there.

The armed men held the personnel at gunpoint and took them to an undisclosed location, officials said. The abducted officials were identified as senior in-charge Waqar Alam, clerk Mudassar and driver Iftikhar.

Sources said the suspects also took away the team’s private vehicle.

A police contingent reached the site shortly after the incident and sealed off the area. A search operation was launched to recover the abducted personnel and trace the suspects, officials said.

Search operation launched

Officials said police moved to the area soon after the abduction and began efforts to locate the three Rescue 1122 employees. The area was cordoned off as part of the response.

No further details were immediately shared by officials about the identity of the kidnappers or the direction in which they had taken the abducted men.

Recent abduction in Tirah Valley

Last month, four road construction workers, including excavator operators, were abducted by armed men in the Peer Mela area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tirah Valley.

Local sources said the kidnapped men included two excavator operators and two labourers. They were working on levelling land for the construction of a link road when armed suspects abducted them at gunpoint.

The same sources said the workers were taken to an unknown location. Three of the abducted men belonged to Balochistan.

The latest incident in Tank adds to a series of abductions reported from parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent weeks, according to the details provided by officials and local sources in the reported cases.