KABUL: More than a dozen civilians, among them a woman, have been killed when a group of suspected Taliban rebels launched an attack on buses traveling toward the troubled eastern region of Afghanistan.
Ataullah Khogyani, the spokesman for Maidan Wardak provincial governor, said on Tuesday that the assailants intercepted three buses at around 1:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday (2030 GMT Monday) in Saydabad district of the province, killing 13 passengers.
Mohammad Ali, the deputy governor of neighboring Ghazni province, confirmed the incident, saying the gunmen picked their victims and shot them one by one.
The buses were heading from the capital, Kabul, towards Afghanistans eastern province of Ghazni.
Assault bears the hallmarks of those made by Taliban militants.
Officials said the victims were returning home in Ghazni after celebrating Nowruz, in the Afghan capital.
On March 17, armed men abducted six Shia Muslims from the Hazara ethnic community on a highway linking Afghanistans western province of Farah to neighboring Herat Province.
Last month, masked gunmen kidnapped 30 Shia Muslims as they were traveling on two buses. The incident took place in the southern province of Zabul on the road between the western city of Herat and Kabul.
The kidnapped individuals were men from the Hazara ethnic group, which is often targeted by militants in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.
Fears have recently been growing over the influence of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group in Afghanistan, which has witnessed years of instability despite the presence of foreign troops.
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