The Taliban militants have abducted four civilians, who are residents of Jaghori and Malistan districts, in Qarabagh district of the southern Ghazni province, a local official confirmed.
Talking to Kabul Now, district governor of Jaghori, Aref Bahunar, said that the incident took place on Saturday, January 09, in Zardaloo village of Qarabagh. He said that three of the abductees were from Jaghori and one other from Malistan. They were kidnapped while heading to Ghazni and Kabul from their home districts.
In recent months, the Taliban have taken several civilians as hostages. On Sunday, December 27, the militant group abducted as many as six civilians from the same district. Overall, the total number of civilians taken as hostages by the Taliban over past two weeks reaches 17.
According to Jaghori district governor, most abductees have been kidnapped by a militant group led by Mawlawi Ayoub, Taliban’s shadow district governor for Qarabagh district. He underlined that the Taliban militants have control on most parts of road connecting Jaghori to Ghazni city and often extort people on their ways back and forth to Jaghori. According to him, it has negatively impacted value of basic materials increasing prices by almost twofold in Jaghori and Malistan districts.
The Taliban, however, have not commented regarding these series of hostage taking by their local commanders in the district.
The southern Ghazni is an insecure province where the Taliban militants control swaths of territory.
