Afghan forces free 149 passengers held hostage by Taliban

NewsBharati    21-Aug-2018
Total Views |

Kabul, August 21: Afghan forces on Tuesday freed as many as 149 passengers, including women and children from the custody of Taliban terrorists, who ambushed three buses and abducted more than 150 people in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province.

 

Notably, three buses carrying at least 170 passengers from Badakhshan and Takhar provinces were captured by terrorists belonged to Taliban in Khan Abad district on Monday. A Taliban spokesperson confirmed that the terror group has abducted 170 passengers before adding that civilian passengers will be released while Afghan forces personnel will be kept in custody.

Immediately after the incident was reported, Afghan forces launched an operation and rescued 149 people. However, fighting is still underway to free 21 remaining hostages. Kunduz governor, Esmatullah Muradi said, "Security forces conducted a rescue operation and managed to release 149 passengers."

The ambush came despite Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's announcement of a conditional ceasefire with the Taliban during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on Sunday. In a televised interview, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani declared has a provisional three-month ceasefire with the Taliban to mark the Eid al-Adha festival peacefully. He said that the truce will hold only if the insurgents reciprocate.

The Taliban did not respond to requests for comment after the announcement but released a statement saying they planned to free "hundreds of prisoners" during Eid.

Importantly, at least 150 soldiers and 95 civilians were killed in a five-day siege, which eased last week when Afghan soldiers backed by US forces pushed back the group's heavily armed fighters.