Two Swiss reportedly kidnapped in Pakistan

Armed men on Friday kidnapped two Swiss in south-west Pakistan, news agencies reported.

The two Swiss entered Baluchistan province from neighbouring Punjab province around 5pm local time and “had been registered by police at a check point” as tourists from Switerland, a local police official said.

Their abandoned vehicle was later found in woodlands near Minara, in the Loralai district, about 170 kilometres north-west of the province capital Quetta.

Witnesses told police the couple, a man and a woman, had been “taken at gunpoint by unidentified armed men”, Loralai district police chief Ghulam Ali Lashari said.

The Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday night it was aware that a “possible kidnapping” had occurred in Baluchistan province and was in contact with local authorities in an attempt to obtain more information.

Bordering Iran and Afghanistan, Baluchistan province is the scene of a separatist insurgency where criminal gangs have been known to carry out kidnappings for ransom.

No group had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping on Friday night.