Seven Indian nationals working for a power company in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province were abducted, allegedly by Taliban gunmen, on Sunday. There was speculation over the exact number of men but they are understood to have been accompanied by a driver, an Afghan national, who is also missing.
The abduction, took place after India and China announced that they will develop a project jointly in Afghanistan, is a reminder of the vulnerability of Indian projects that have been targeted by Taliban and other extremist militia, often on the instructions of the Pakistani army and ISI.
The men are employees of Indian company KEC and went missing early on Sunday morning in Bagh-e-Shamal area of the provincial capital Pul-e-Khomre, local news reported. The employees were abducted while they were travelling to the area where the company owns an electricity sub-station contract, the report said.
The foreign ministry in New Delhi said it was in touch with Afghan authorities and was ascertaining details of the incident. Local police officials said they had been told by the Taliban that the Indians were being held by the group. However, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told TOI, “So far, we don’t have any update about the abduction issue.”
Baghlan governor Abdulhai Nemati said a Taliban group abducted the employees and moved them to the Dand-e-Shahabuddin area of Pul-e-Khumri city, according to reports. Nemati was quoted as saying that Afghan authorities spoke with Taliban via local people and the terror group said it had abducted the staff members in error, believing they were government employees. But there is no definitive word on the incident so far.
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