According to Ahlul Bait News Agency - ABNA - The security officials in Zabol province, south of Afqanistan, have said that the operation to free 30 Hazāra Shia hostages who were abducted by gunmen last week has begun.
The police chief in Zabol province in a press conference told reporters that: the operation to free the hostages has started in city of “Khak Afqan” since 3 A.M, yesterday.
He said: in the first phase of the operation 24 elements of ISIS terrorist group have been killed and in another phase 6, which in total 32 terrorists were killed. No independent source has confirmed that the hostage-takers were related to ISIS.
He also said that in the operation a suicide vest has been blown too.
He has not given any information on the condition of the hostages.
A local official said that: so far the security forces have not been able to find the hostages and it is not known if they have been taken to somewhere else.
On Monday, February 2, Shia passengers of a bus going from Kandahar to Kabul have been abducted by unknown men.
The early reports say that the hostage-takers were dressed all in black and had masks on their faces speaking a foreign language.
The authorities in the travel agency have said that the bus has been attacked by men in Afghanistan’s army uniform who had black masks on their faces and had asked the passengers for ID.
The travel agency has said that the hostage-takers had asked for ID from everyone and then had taken the Hazāra to an unknown location releasing the other passengers.
/276