BALABLOK, Afghanistan, July 10 (UPI) -- The bodies of six Afghan soldiers charged with searching for and removing landmines have been found, officials said.
Armed militants kidnapped 28 people, including 24 de-miners and four drivers, in the Balablok district of Farah province, about 400 miles west of Kabul, July 6, Xinhua reported.
"Police found the bodies … Saturday after their abduction on Wednesday," Farah province Police Chief Syed Mohammad Roshandil said.
All of those kidnapped worked for a mine-sweeping company called Demining Agency for Afghanistan, an Afghan charity group based in Kandahar. The fate of the rest of those kidnapped is unknown, the report said.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti said at least three people were killed and five wounded in a blast in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.
The bomb in Sunday's blast was planted near a police checkpoint and the dead included police officers. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
RIA Novosti said violence in Afghanistan has increased since the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
