ISIS-allied militants abduct and kill 30 civilians in Afghanistan, including children

Villagers in central region of Afghanistan were abducted and executed in an attack which shows the jihadis’ influence is expanding in a country still battling the Taliban’s insurgency.

Villagers in central region of Afghanistan were abducted and executed in an attack which shows the jihadis’ influence is expanding in a country still battling the Taliban’s insurgency.

Around 30 people in central Afghanistan – including several children – have been kidnapped and killed by jihadists with links to ISIS, sparking worries over the group’s expanding ideological presence even as it suffers territorial losses in Syria and Iraq.

The villagers from north of Firoz Koh, the capital of Ghor province, were abducted in what officials said was a revenge attack after security forces killed a local ISIS commander in a shootout on Tuesday.