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