QUETTA: Unknown gunmen kidnapped the general manager of Balochistan Development Authority (BDA), Bacha Khan, along with five other officers from Killa Saifullah district of Balochistan on Monday.

Security sources told Dawn.com that unknown militants stopped the vehicle of BDA officials in Nasai area of Killa Saifullah and abducted them. The kidnapped officials were inspecting an under construction road in the area when they were picked up by miscreants.

A search operation has been launched in the area to recover the abducted officers but so far neither any official is recovered nor any suspect apprehended.

Explore Balochistan unrest

Pakistan's largest province — which borders Iran and Afghanistan — is riven by sectarian strife and violence.

Its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth.

Baloch separatists demanding more autonomy and control over gas and mineral resources have frequently targeted security forces and police for years.

The government and law-enforcement agencies have time and again alleged involvement of a foreign hand in the Balochistan unrest.

By alluding to external involvement in the unrest, the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) generally mean to be referring to Indian intelligence agency RAW.

Other intelligence agencies suspected of contributing to the Balochistan unrest are Afghanistan’s NDS and those of certain countries in the Gulf and West.

Recent Two dozen Baloch militants lay down their weapons