MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2020) Taliban have taken hostage 53 civilians, including women and children, in the central Afghan provine of Daykundi, Afghan media reported on Saturday, citing provincial governor Zia Hamdard.
According to the governor, as cited in by TOLO news, the incident took place in the Kajran district and there were 28 women and children among 53 hostages.
The governor was further cited as saying that the local authorities negotiated the release of nine hostages with the mediation of local elders and presently continue efforts to ensure the release of the rest.
At the same time, the Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi denied, as cited in the report, the radical group's involvement in the hostage taking incident.
