Swiss confirm 2 kidnapped in SW Pakistan

GENEVA (AP) - Two Swiss tourists have been kidnapped in Pakistan's southwest Baluchistan province, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Saturday.

Pakistani authorities notified the embassy in Islamabad late Friday following the abduction of the pair, who were traveling through the region by car, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The kidnapping is the first such incident involving Swiss citizens in Pakistan, and authorities in Switzerland have set up a task force combining police and intelligence services to work on the case, it said.

The task force "is pressing for everything necessary to be done to allow the hostages' liberation in good health," the statement said.

The embassy in Islamabad is also in constant contact with local authorities and police which has started searching for the pair, it added.