Taliban Releases Kidnapped Passengers
Local Editor
The Taliban terrorist group released more than two dozen hostages pulled from their vehicles on a highway in southern Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday, a day after they were abducted by the militants.
The passengers were kidnapped in Washer district of volatile Helmand province as they were travelling on a bus and two trucks from southern Kandahar to western Herat province on Tuesday.
"There were 25 people taken by Taliban, all of them are released and will be sent to their homes," Aqa Noor Kentoz police chief of Helmand said.
He further added that the five last hostages were released Wednesday morning after the majority of them were released Tuesday evening.
Although an army statement reported that they were freed in an operation in Marja district, the Taliban denied the claim, with spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi telling AFP the group decided to free the hostages after they were found to be "innocent."
Earlier, the Taliban insurgents said they were targeting Afghan government officials aboard the vehicles.
Highways in Afghanistan passing through insurgency-prone areas became exceedingly dangerous, with the Taliban and other armed groups frequently kidnapping or killing travelers.
Earlier this month, gunmen abducted 40 people in northern Kunduz province, releasing some later, but an unknown number of others remain in Taliban captivity.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
