Armed dacoits attacked a Quetta-bound passenger bus near the Punjab–Sindh border late Monday night and kidnapped 18 passengers after injuring the driver, police sources said.
The incident occurred when a Sadabahar Company coach left Sadiqabad for Quetta at around 8pm. As the bus reached the Murid Shakh area near Motorway M-5 and took a turn towards Guddu, around 65 kilometres from Sadiqabad, armed men intercepted the vehicle.
The attackers, reportedly from the Katcha area, opened fire and smashed the bus windows.
They forced passengers to get down and separated the men from the women. Out of a total of 25 passengers, 18 men were kidnapped, while women were not harmed.
The armed men then took the abducted passengers towards the nearby Katcha area. During the incident, the bus driver was injured by gunfire.
Police reached the scene shortly after and began chasing the attackers, but the abducted passengers were taken away before they could be recovered. Police say operations in the area are difficult because of the rough land and lack of proper access routes.
In a separate incident, armed robbers attacked a Quetta-bound bus in Obaro and kidnapped 19 male passengers, while women were left unharmed.
Police and Rangers later launched a rescue operation and freed 10 hostages after an encounter in Somiani, with some injured passengers shifted to hospital.
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