Unidentified gunmen kidnap Pakistani legislator in Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: A legislator has been kidnapped by unidentified armed men in the restive Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan, his family said today.

Sultan Mohammad Tareen, a leader of the Awami National Party, was abducted in Kuchlak area early this morning, his brother Ghulam Tareen told reporters in Quetta, the provincial capital.

Members of Tareen's family lost contact with him when he was in Kuchlak, located some 30 km from Quetta.

At the time, Tareen was travelling from Quetta to his constituency of Harnai in his personal vehicle.

"Armed men whisked away my brother to an unknown location in Kuchlak area," Ghulam told the media.

Tareen served as the Minister for Prisons before Governor's Rule was imposed in Balochistan in January after a devastating bomb attack on Shias that killed 92 people.