Gunmen seize 30 bus passengers in Zabul

QALAT (Pajhwok): Masked gunmen abducted 30 passengers travelling by a bus on the Kabul-Kandahar highway in the Shajoy district of southern Zabul province, officials said on Tuesday.

The men were seized in Pash Kandi area on the road between western Herat province and central capital Kabul at around 5pm Monday afternoon, Mohammad Ullah Ahmadi, the district police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said the unidentified armed men forced the 30 passengers off a 303 public transport bus, but identity of the hostages could not be ascertained.

Initial investigation showed the passengers were Afghan refugees returning from neighboring Iran, he added.

Security forces had launched their investigation into the abduction and had detained some suspects, the police official said, adding the hostages had been moved to the Arghandab district.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the abduction. The gunmen only took away with them men and spared children and women on the bus.

mds/rm/ma

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