AYBAK (Xinhua) — Taliban militants abducted 60 truck drivers in the northern Samanghan province on Thursday, head of Provincial Council Hajji Raz Mohammad Moahidi said.

“Taliban insurgents abducted 60 drivers of trucks on a road linking Dara-e-Suf district of Samangan province to the neighboring Balkh’s provincial capital Mazar-e-Sharif city today morning and took them to unknown location”, Moahidi told Xinhua.

However, the official added that the militants had in the past imposed 7,000 afghani ($93) as monthly tax on each truck driver, and the militant group punishes any driver if fails to pay the imposed tax.

Meantime, provincial police spokesman Mohamamed Hashim Bayan has confirmed the incident but added that police had launched operations to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted drivers.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of the relatively violent province are yet to make comment.