Taliban kidnap 19 de-miners in eastern Afghanistan
Afghan Taliban militants have abducted 19 people working for a land mine clearance project in an eastern province, a local official said on Monday.
It was the latest in a string of kidnappings in the violence-weary country, days after four abducted ethnic Hazara men were killed by their captors.
Abdul Wali Sahi, deputy governor of the eastern province of Paktia, said the Taliban abducted the de-miners on Sunday while they were surveying an area on the outskirts of Gardez, the provincial capital.
The abducted de-miners were employees of Sterling Demining Afghanistan, Sahi said. The company holds mine-clearing contracts throughout Afghanistan.
