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Afghan forces free nearly 150 people taken hostage by Taliban

By Sommer Brokaw
Afghan security officials patrol in the district of Kunduz, Afghanistan. More than 100 people were taken hostage there Monday by the Taliban, although many have been freed. File Photo by Jawed Kargar/EPA
Afghan security officials patrol in the district of Kunduz, Afghanistan. More than 100 people were taken hostage there Monday by the Taliban, although many have been freed. File Photo by Jawed Kargar/EPA

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Afghan forces said they have freed most of the large group of people taken hostage by the Taliban Monday.

Taliban fighters ambushed three buses in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province in the Khan Abad district area and abducted 170 people.

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"Security forces conducted a rescue operation and managed to release 149 passengers," government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi told Al Jazeera, adding that 21 people were still held hostage by the armed group.

"The passengers were taken hostage in the morning when they were on their way to the capital Kabul from Takhar province," he'd said earlier.

A Taliban spokesman confirmed the three buses were captured and said civilians from the group would be released. Afghan security forces, he said, would remain in custody.

The attack came on the first day of a three-month cease-fire Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani declared Sunday ahead of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holy festival.

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