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June 1, 2016

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Taliban kill 16 bus passengers and kidnap dozens

Source: AFP | June 1, 2016, Wednesday | Print Edition

THE Taliban yesterday killed at least 16 people and kidnapped dozens of others after pulling them off buses in northern Afghanistan, the latest assault since the insurgents named a new leader last week.

The Taliban have so far not commented on the incident in Aliabad district in the volatile province of Kunduz, where the insurgents briefly overran the provincial capital in a stunning military victory last year.

Up to 200 passengers were travelling in four buses towards Kabul yesterday morning when they were stopped by the Taliban gunmen, with some killed on the side of the road at point-blank range, officials said.

“The Taliban shot dead 16 passengers and they are still holding more than 30 others,” said Sayed Mahmood Danish, spokesman for the governor of Kunduz.

Police commander Shir Aziz Kamawal said: “They have released some passengers but are holding many others. None of the passengers were wearing military uniforms but some may have been former polic.”

Residents of insurgency-prone Aliabad said the Taliban were holding an informal court in a local mosque, scrutinizing the ID documents of the passengers and interrogating them for any government links.

Highways around Afghanistan passing through insurgency-prone areas have become exceedingly dangerous, with the Taliban and other armed groups frequently kidnapping or killing travellers. Civilians are increasingly caught in Afghanistan’s worsening conflict as the Taliban step up their annual spring offensive, launched in April against the Western-backed Kabul government.

Yesterday’s incident comes a day after the Taliban overran multiple police checkpoints in Helmand, the first major assault in the opium-rich southern province since the leadership transition.

Last Wednesday the Taliban declared that Haibatullah Akhundzada was 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.

The drone attack, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, sent shockwaves through the insurgent movement, which had seen a resurgence under Mansour. He was killed nine months after being appointed leader following a bitter power struggle.

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