At least 14 ethnic Hazaras kidnapped from bus in Afghanistan

Baku. 21 November. REPORT.AZ/ Unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan on Saturday kidnapped 14 bus passengers believed to be from the Hazara ethnic minority, 10 days after the killing of seven Hazaras by militants sparked one of the biggest protests in Kabul in years, Report informs citing foreign media.

Gunmen stopped three night buses in Zabul province, on the main road between Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar, and kidnapped passengers, said provincial police chief Mirwais Noorzai.

He said he did not know how many people had been taken or their identity but the manager of a bus company and a provincial official said the gunmen had taken at least 14 Hazara people.

“The gunmen asked for identity documents and when people showed them, they took away only Hazaras,” Sayed Mohebullah, a manager for the Ahmad Shah Abdali bus company, told Reuters.

He said believed the gunman had also taken people from other buses. Asadullah Kakar, a member of the Zabul provincial council, said he believed 20 people, all but two of them Hazaras, had been taken away.

No militant faction claimed responsibility.