Pakistani police: Chinese couple abducted in the southwest

QUETTA, Pakistan – A Pakistani police spokesman says gunmen have abducted a Chinese couple who were teaching at a private language school in the country’s southwest.

Shahzada Farhat says the incident took place on Wednesday when assailants ambushed the Chinese couple’s car in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province. He says no one has claimed responsibility and the motive behind the abduction is unclear.

Farhat says the couple’s bodyguard, who was driving the car at the time, was wounded in a shootout but that the Chinese were unharmed.

He says a search operation is underway. There was no immediate comment from Beijing.

China is a longtime ally of Pakistan and is currently building a network of roads and power plants under a project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC.