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Gunmen kidnap 17 passengers in Sar-e Pul
Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped 17 passengers traveling in vehicles in northern Afghanistan — the second group abduction this week.
The governor of Sar-e-Pul Province, Zaher Wahdat, said the passengers, all civilians, were pulled out of their vehicles in Sancharak district on June 2 and taken to an area controlled by the Taliban.
There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.
Mohammad Noor Rahmani, head of the provincial council, said the kidnapping occurred a day after a Taliban commander in the area was detained by Afghan forces.
“The Taliban may have abducted the passengers to exchange them with their local commander,” Rahmani added.
The incident occurred two days after the Taliban killed 10 bus passengers, many of them summarily executed, and kidnapped dozens of others in northern Kunduz province.
The insurgents said they were targeting Afghan security officials aboard the buses passing through the insurgency-prone district of Aliabad, as the insurgents step up their annual spring offensive after naming a new leader last week.