In northern Sari Pul province, the governor’s spokesman Zabiullah Amani says 17 people have been kidnapped by insurgents in Balkhab district. “Following the mediation of local elders, the 24 were freed late on Thursday”, the official told Xinhua news agency.
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Taliban regularly stop vehicles to search for members of the Afghan government, security forces and international organizations.
Hejratullah Akbari, Spokesman for Police in the Northern Province of Kunduz, said the bodies of the two civilians were dumped on a road in Chahardara district of Kunduz.
Chahar Dara is northwest of the Aliabad district, where the Taliban kidnapped dozens of passengers early Tuesday morning and killed 10 after initially detaining about 200 at a highway checkpoint.
The United Nation’s assistance mission in Afghanistan said that 25 people had been abducted from two vehicles in the Sari Pul incident.
Hazaras are a Persian-speaking, Shi’ite community that has long been persecuted in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters gathered in Kabul Thursday for a demonstration against the Kunduz abductions and killings.
Meanwhile, the Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the group stopped three buses and found 26 soldiers who were identified by the documents they had.
The majority of the passengers were released after they were interrogated and but some of them were killed.
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The Taliban last week announced Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader, elevating a low-profile religious figure in a swift power transition after officially confirming the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike.
