Chinese nationals abducted

TWO CHINESE citizens, a man and a woman, were kidnapped from Pakistan’s south-western city of Quetta police said.

The incident took place in the provincial capital of Balochistan at 1.25pm.

Abductors forced the two foreigners into a vehicle at gunpoint while they were leaving their home and drove away, police spokesperson Izzat Izzat Ullah said.

He said another Chinese woman had escaped.

Police and the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) have started searching the area.

Balochistan shares borders with both Afghanistan and Iran and is Pakistan’s poorest, least developed and most volatile province, with frequent terrorist and sectarian attacks.

Earlier this month, a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State targeted a senator in the province, killing 25 people and wounding about 50 at a time when Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was expected to attend a trade conference in Beijing. – dpa