Quetta, Jan 6(ANI): The Quetta police have confirmed the abduction at gunpoint of British doctor Khalil Ahmad Dale, who had been working with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The police said unidentified armed men had halted Dale's vehicle as it slowed to turn a corner, just 200 metres from his home, and subsequently carried him away in a Land Cruiser containing seven or eight gunmen.
The gunmen, however, spared a Pakistani doctor and driver, who were travelling with Dale, The Guardian reports.
The ICRC has called for Dale's "rapid and unconditional release" but added that it has "no indication as to the abductors' identities or motives,"
It confirmed Dale had been living in Quetta for six months to carry out his humanitarian work.
The abduction is the latest in a string of kidnappings in Pakistan for seeking money.
Speculations are rife that a commercial gang is responsible for kidnapping Dale for selling him to the Pakistan Taliban, which already holds several high -profile people as hostages.
Local police said they are trying to trace the vehicle in which Dale was kidnapped.
"We are checking all routes out of the districts but we have not been able to trace it," a senior city police official, Nazeer Kurd said.
The ICRC, which has had a permanent presence in Pakistan since 1981, also said it was scaling down its operation in the country and closing six of its 10 offices.
"The main reason we are scaling down is because of increasing difficulties in accessing certain areas and populations," an ICRC communications delegate, Narej Resich said.
Resich declined to comment on whether the difficulties arose due to Pakistani authorities denying entry of aid workers or over security fears. (ANI)
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