From our partners at The Agonist
ASADABAD | March 28
Daily Times – Taliban abducted around 50 off-duty Afghan policemen in an ambush in northeastern Afghanistan, the group and provincial officials said on Sunday.
Taliban-led militants have stepped up their fight this year against the Afghan government and its Western backers at a time when Kabul has announced security responsibilities for seven areas will be handed to Afghan forces in July. The policemen were abducted by militants in the Chapa Dara district of remote northeastern Kunar province after returning from neighbouring Nuristan province where they had travelled to collect their salaries, Nuristan Governor Jamaluddin Badr said. “The policemen were in civilian clothes and had no weapons with them,” Badr told journalists from Nuristan.
Mohammad Farooq, a senior police officer in Nuristan, confirmed around 50 policemen had been kidnapped by terrorists. …
