24 deminers, 4 drivers kidnapped in W. Afghanistan
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Xinhua, July 6, 2011
Armed militants abducted 28 people including 24 deminers in Farah province 695 km west of Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, police said.
"A group of armed Taliban militants kidnapped 24 de-miners along with four drivers in Balablok district this morning and have shifted them to unknown locations," provincial police chief Syed Mohammad Roshandil told Xinhua.
The deminers were busy in cleaning mines from the area when armed Taliban attacked and took them to unknown place, the police chief said.
All those kidnapped were employees of a mine clearing agency -- Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA), Roshandil added.
He also noted that police have begun search operation to rescue the deminers.
Afghanistan is one of the most mine-contaminated countries as millions of mines and unexploded ordnances have left over from the past three decades of wars.
