Kabul: The Taliban kidnapped at least 25 passengers who were travelling from Sar-e-Pul province to Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan on Tuesday.
The incident took place in an area around Kushinda district of Balkh province.
Munir Ahmad Farhad, spokesperson for Balkh’s Governor was quoted by TOLOnews as saying that the passengers were kidnapped while they were travelling from Balkhab district of Sar-e-Pul province to Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province.
Some women passengers, who were among the 25 people kidnapped, were later released by the Taliban. It is unclear whether the remaining travellers would be freed by the group or not.
Kidnapping and hostage-taking have become a common occurrence in Afghanistan following the US invasion of the country in 2001.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]