Karachi football team robbed at gunpoint in Balochistan, players lose cash, phones
A football team heading from Karachi to Quetta was robbed at gunpoint on a highway in Balochistan on Monday evening. The players were forced off their bus before armed men took their cash, phones and other valuables.
According to news agency PTI, the Karachi District West football team was travelling to Quetta for the Chief Minister's Gold Cup tournament when around a dozen armed men intercepted the bus between Mastung and Sariab.
Team manager, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, said some passengers were also assaulted during the robbery. "The armed men asked all the passengers to disembark from the bus and then took away all mobile phones, cash, and other valuables. They also butted some of the passengers," Bhutto said, as quoted by PTI.
The team eventually reached Quetta but was left without money for basic expenses. After the players informed the Balochistan sports minister about what had happened, arrangements were made to provide them with daily allowances.
The robbery came despite warnings from football authorities about travelling to Quetta by bus or train. Muhammad Azam, secretary of the Sindh Football Association, said the association had decided not to send its own team because of the security situation. He said Karachi-based clubs had also been advised against travelling to Quetta by road or rail.
"We didn't send the Sindh team and we advised all other clubs in Karachi to avoid going to Quetta by bus or train because of the security situation. The Karachi west team still went ahead and what we feared happened," Azam said.
He added that the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa football associations had also not sent teams to the tournament.WHY HIGHWAYS ARE BECOMING DANGEROUS
The stretch between Mastung and Quetta is part of a highway network that has faced repeated security problems.
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province by area, has for years faced an insurgency as well as other forms of criminal and militant violence. Its highways are particularly vulnerable because they connect major cities and remote areas across a vast and sparsely populated region.
Recent incidents have highlighted the risks for people travelling by road.
The football team's ordeal came only days after two local cricketers were reportedly abducted from Dera Bugti, another district in Balochistan. According to police, the players were identified as Zakir Bugti and Wardan Bugti, both residents of Sui. Unidentified suspects allegedly abducted the two men and fled towards an undisclosed location.
According to Dawn, Pakistani security forces said they killed five militants and recovered 23 abducted people during an operation along the N-25 Karachi-Chaman highway near Kalat earlier this month. The military said the militants had established a checkpoint to facilitate abductions for ransom, extortion and vehicle snatching. Six trucks, three buses and two cars were also recovered from the site, according to the report.
Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove has also acknowledged the role of highway crime in financing militant activity. Speaking at a roundtable in Quetta in September, he said militant groups were raising money through extortion, highway robberies, looting and ransom demands.- EndsWith inputs from PTI
