Afghan officials: Taliban attack buses, kill 9, abduct 35

An Afghan official says the Taliban have attacked several buses on a road in the country’s north, killing nine people and abducting at least 35.

Mahmood Danish, the provincial governor’s spokesman, says the assault took place in northern Kunduz province early Tuesday.

He says the Taliban forced passengers off the buses in the Aliabad district, then killed or abducted them. Danish says the buses were traveling from the capital, Kabul, northeast to Takhar and Badakhshan provinces. It wasn’t immediately clear where the nine were killed.

Hayatullah Quareshi, Aliabad district chief, says the attackers were wearing Afghan army uniforms.

Although no group claimed responsibility for the attack, both Quareshi and Danish blamed the Taliban, who are increasingly active in the area and have been behind mass abductions last year across Afghanistan.

— AP