An operation for the recovery of six kidnapped footballers was under way in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti on Sunday, interim Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said a day after the athletes were abducted while on their way to Sibi.

The footballers were abducted in Dera Bugti’s Jani Bair area and were travelling to Sibi to participate in the qualifying round of the All Pakistan Chief Minister Gold Cup football tournament, officials earlier told Dawn.

Meanwhile, official sources said armed men intercepted the vehicles in which the players were travelling and took the footballers away at gunpoint. Five of the six players were identified as Aamir Bugti, Faisal Bugti, Sohail Bugti, Yasar Bugti and Sheraz Bugti.

The footballers are residents of Dera Bugti and Sui, according to the Dera Bugti deputy commissioner.

Following their abduction, the provincial caretaker home minister, Mir Zubair Ahmed Jamali, said security forces had been dispatched to the area to launch a search operation and recover the kidnapped footballers as soon as possible.

Separately, the interim interior minister told Geo News late on Sunday that an operation was being planned to recover the players, but he added that details could not be shared. He said teams of Frontier Corps, deputy commissioner, commissioner and Levies Force were working to trace the suspects.

The interior ministry said in an update on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) today that the area had been cordoned off and an operation was under way for the footballers’ recovery since yesterday.

The ministry’s post quoted the caretaker interim minister as saying that all resources were being employed for the players’ recovery, and directives had been issued to all relevant departments to take measures for the abductees’ recovery.

“Those spreading unrest will not be able to escape the grip of law. They (kidnapped footballers) are our children. I will not be able to sit in peace until they are recovered,” the statement quoted the minister as saying.