Nearly 150 people, including women and children, who were abducted by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan have been freed by government forces, Afghan officials have said.
Nasrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said militants are still holding 21 other people hostage following their ambush of three buses traveling near Kunduz on Monday.
The rescue operation carried out by security forces has so far killed at least seven Taliban fighters.
Esmatullah Muradi, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kunduz, said the kidnapping happened on Monday morning when the convoy of buses were coming from Takhar province to the capital, Kabul.
"The buses were stopped by the Taliban fighters, passengers were forced to step down and they have been taken to an undisclosed location," he said.
He also confirmed the rescue of the hostages and said the operation continues.
The hostage taking occurred despite President Ashraf Ghani's call for a ceasefire with the Taliban during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Taliban sources said their leaders had also provisionally agreed on a four-day truce, although supreme leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada still had to give his final approval.
The militants said they would free hundreds of prisoners, without going into further details.
A provincial council member in Kunduz said "a total of 300 to 400 passengers" could have been on the buses when they were stopped by insurgents, although it had not been confirmed whether the Taliban were responsible.
Taliban insurgents have kidnapped dozens of passengers after stopping three buses in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province. Source: Google
Officials had rushed to the scene to investigate and rescue the passengers.
Sayed Assadullah Sadat, a Kunduz provincial council member, said Afghans were on holiday for the annual Islamic feast of sacrifice and that many were travelling to meet family in Kabul.
"Buses were packed with people and maybe there were army soldiers and police in the buses," he said.
The United Nations has said Kabul is the deadliest place for civilians in the country.
