QALAT(SW): Local officials in southern province Zabul said that 20 passengers were kidnapped from Nawarak area on the outskirts of Qalat the capital city of Zabul province today (Saturday).
Asadullah Kakar, a member of Zabul provincial Council, said that the number of abductees reaches 14 to 20 passengers.
Gul Islam Seyal, Spokesman for Zabul Governor, told SalamWatandar that the passengers were on their way from Kabul to Kandahar when they were kidnapped.
He said that the identities of the kidnappers and the hostages were not known yet.
He added that local officials in Zabul would do their best to release the hostages before they would be shifted to a farther location.
Last year, gunmen abducted 31 passengers from the Hazara community and Shia sect. Twenty-seven of them released later on as a result of mediation by tribal elders, but four of them are still in captivity.
Some weeks back, the Islamic State (IS) fighters decapitated in Zabul the seven Hazara members they had kidnapped from the Jaghori district of southern Ghazni province.
ENDS
