2 female Czech tourists kidnapped in Pakistan

Gunmen kidnapped two female Czech tourists in Pakistan's restive south-western province of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, officials said Thursday. The women were seized Wednesday in Chagai district, about 250 kilometres south-west of the provincial capital, Quetta, Mohib Ullah, an official with the Levies police force said by telephone. The Levies are a government-formed local militia responsible for maintaining law and order in remote areas, mostly near the tribal regions. They also escort tourists in conflict-prone zones. One of their officials was travelling with the Czech women on a bus, which was pulled over in the remote Alam Rig area by at least eight armed men dressed in the uniforms of Pakistani security forces, Ullah said. "The gunmen identified the three and bundled them into their vehicle," Ullah said. "The Levies man was released after a distance." Authorities launched a search for the women, who had entered Pakistan from Iran for a holiday.