A massive manhunt was on in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to recover at least nine civilian factory workers who were kidnapped by terrorists for ransom from Kabal Khel area, police said on Thursday.

According to police, terrorists associated with Fitna al-Khwarij – a term used for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) – kidnapped 17 civilian employees of a government project from Darra Tang Road in the morning. The terrorists took the hostages and set fire to the personnel van, they added.

“Around 9am, 17 workers, including a driver, involved in a mining project were traveling in a minibus when they were stopped and taken away at gunpoint by some men on Dara Tang Road in Lakki Marwat,” Shahid Marwat, spokesperson for Lakki. Marwat district police, told a media outlet.

The kidnapped officials include senior admin officer Hafiz Bashir, senior technicians Ehsanullah, Safiullah and Habibullah, technician Moazullah Anwar, computer operators Hazrat Ali, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Israr, junior assistants Rehan, Sikandar, Aqeel, Noman, watchman Riaz and others.

Security forces and law enforcement personnel took immediate action and have so far recovered eight kidnapped workers, according to police. They added that a massive operation was underway to recover the remaining workers.

“Eight of the abducted workers have been rescued, of whom three sustained minor injuries,” the police spokesman said, adding that an operation involving police and security personnel was underway in the district to rescue the remaining workers.

Doctors at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital confirmed that they were treating three recovered hostages. Following the incident, notices were issued from mosques in various villages of the district protesting the incident.

The kidnapping occurred as the KP Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said its personnel killed three terrorists belonging to a TTP affiliate in an intelligence-based operation in Malang Adda area. They identified the dead as Shafeeq Nawaz, Muhammad Mujahid alias Jihadyar and Fidaur Rehman.

(WITH INPUT FROM NEWS DESK)