Twelve people killed, 50 kidnapped in Afghan highway attacks

Taliban killed 12 people after stopping their vehicles

Taliban killed 12 people after stopping their vehicles 50 people were kidnapped in the north of the country Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment

Suspected Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan killed 12 people after stopping their vehicles on a road in the east of the country, while 50 people were kidnapped in the north, the latest in a spate of highway attacks, officials said on Wednesday.

The Taliban have made considerable gains in fighting in various parts of the country in recent months and the killing of their leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a U.S. drone attack last month has had no discernable impact on the violence.

Attackers in the eastern province of Ghazni stopped two cars late on Tuesday and shot dead everyone they found. Several members of the security forces were among those killed, said JawidSalangi a spokesman for the provincial governor.

“Taliban ordered the passengers out and brutally shot them dead,” Salangi said.

Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

On Wednesday, suspected Taliban stopped a bus and a car near the northern city of Kunduz and took all 50 people in the vehicles hostage, a police spokesman in the area, Mahfozullah Akbari, told Reuters.