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Taliban kills 17 after abducting about 200 at fake Afghan checkpoint

It was the Taliban's first major action since a change of command last week.

By Ed Adamczyk
Taliban forces surrender to Afghan National Security Forces. The Taliban established a checkpoint on Afghanistan's Kunduz-Takhar Highway on Tuesday, and kidnapped about 200 people, killing 17. Photo courtesy of International Security Assistance Force/NATO
Taliban forces surrender to Afghan National Security Forces. The Taliban established a checkpoint on Afghanistan's Kunduz-Takhar Highway on Tuesday, and kidnapped about 200 people, killing 17. Photo courtesy of International Security Assistance Force/NATO

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, May 31 (UPI) -- After kidnapping about 200 people in Afghanistan, the Taliban said Tuesday it killed 17 who were carrying Afghan government documents.

The victims were abducted early Tuesday at a Taliban checkpoint established on Afghanistan's Kunduz-Takhar highway. Afghan officials said four buses, three vans and three cars were commandeered by Taliban members dressed in military uniforms. About 154 people were released after interrogation, and 17, in possession of documents indicating they were government employees, were killed, Mahmood Danish, a spokesman for the Kunduz provincial government, said. The whereabouts of the rest is unknown.

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It was the Taliban's first major attack since new leadership was installed last week. Maulavi Haibatullah Akhundzada replaced Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansour, who was killed in a May 21 drone strike.

Kunduz province has seen deteriorating security conditions in the past several months as the Taliban steps up its efforts to destabilize Afghanistan's northern provinces. They briefly held the capital city, Kunduz, last year before it was recaptured by Afghan forces.

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