Suspected militants have abducted four individuals, including an army officer, in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwest Pakistan. The army officer, Lt. Col. Khalid Khan, was taken while he was in a mosque receiving mourners following his father’s funeral. Along with Khan, his two brothers who are government officials, and one of his nephews were also taken. Despite the incident, no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, which occurred on Wednesday.

Local authorities, including police official Ikram Ullah, are actively working to locate and rescue the abducted individuals. While attacks by the Pakistani Taliban against security forces in the region are not uncommon, kidnappings of this nature are rare in the area. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, is a militant group with a significant presence in the volatile northwest region. The TTP, distinct from the Afghan Taliban but sharing alliances, has been energized following the Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

This abduction incident follows a recent deadly attack in the southwestern Balochistan province, where Baloch separatists, who are aligned with the TTP, killed over 50 people, including 14 security personnel. In response to the escalating violence, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit Balochistan on Thursday to be briefed on the current operations being conducted against insurgents.