Taliban insurgents kidnapped as many 60 truck drivers after stopping them on road between Samangan and Balkh provinces on Thursday morning, an official said.

Raz Mohammad Mowahidi, Samangan provincial council chief, said that the militants stopped 100 vehicles at Kotal-e-Rag at the border between Samangan’s Dara-i-Suf district and Balkh’s Kushenda district.
He said that the incident was the latest in a series of Taliban kidnapping incidents along the road.
Mohammad Hashim Bayan, a spokesman for Samangan police, confirmed the incident without providing further details.
The army’s 209 Shaheen Corps said that the militants were demanding money from the drivers.
It said that efforts were launched to secure their release with the help of local elders.