KABUL (Dispatches) – Taliban insurgents kidnapped dozens of passengers after stopping three buses in northern Afghanistan on Monday, officials said, a day after the government announced a ceasefire with the militants.
Esmatullah Muradi, a spokesman for the governor of Kunduz province, said the kidnapping happened when three buses were traveling through Kunduz from Takhar province, on their way to the capital, Kabul.
"The buses were stopped by the Taliban fighters, passengers were forced to step down and they have been taken to an undisclosed location,” Muradi said.
The Taliban confirmed that "three buses packed with passengers” were in their custody.
"We decided to seize the buses after our intelligence inputs revealed that many men working with Afghan security forces were traveling to Kabul in these buses,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said by telephone.
"We have taken the buses to a safe area to prevent any clashes and we are now identifying members of the security forces,” he said, adding that civilians would be released soon.
The abduction comes a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced a 90-day conditional ceasefire with the militant group on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.
Reacting to the announcement, Taliban sources said their leaders had provisionally agreed to a four-day truce during the occasion. The militant group also said it would free hundreds of prisoners.
The announcement comes in the wake of fighting in the central city of Ghazni, a strategically important region the Taliban have been battling to bring under control.
At least 150 Afghan soldiers and 95 civilians were killed in a five-day siege that eased last week, when Afghan troops pushed back the heavily armed militants.
The Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 following a U.S.-led invasion. The group has, however, been involved in widespread militancy, killing thousands of civilians as well as Afghan and U.S. forces.