ISIS kidnaps dozens in Afghanistan, official says
Last Updated Feb 24, 2015 7:13 AM EST
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Gunmen in southern Afghanistan kidnapped 30 members of the Hazara ethnic community, authorities said Tuesday.
The 30 people were kidnapped from two vehicles on a major road in Zabul province, provincial Gov. Mohammad Ashraf said. He said authorities were trying to find those kidnapped, some of whom may be government officials.
Though no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack nor demanded a ransom, deputy police chief in Zabul province told CBS News that militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were behind the abductions, which he said took place on the Kabul-Kandahar highway on Monday night.
Deputy police chief Ghulam Jilani Farahi told CBS News' Ahmad Mukhtar over the phone that ISIS fighters "stopped two passenger buses traveling from Kandahar to Kabul and took 11 people from one bus and 20 people from the second bus."
He said all of those abducted were Hazara Shiite Muslims.
Farahi said a search and rescue operation was underway in the Zabul province.
Abdul Khaliq Ayubi, a local government official, said the gunmen all wore black clothing and black masks.
"We contacted the Taliban through tribal elders but Taliban said they are not behind this kidnapping," Ayubi told CBS News.
He said the drivers of both buses had told authorities that the kidnappers spoke in a foreign language.