Representational
Six Indian engineers of an RPG group company working in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province were abducted today by Taliban gunmen who apparently mistook them for government employees, media reports said.
Officials said six Indian staff members and one Afghan employee of the company have been abducted in Bagh-e-Shamal village, of the Pul-e-Khomre city capital of Baghlan province.
According to local officials the incident happened while they were traveling to the area, where the company owns an electricity sub-station contract, TOLO report stated.
The External Affairs Ministry said in New Delhi it is in touch with authorities in Afghanistan and is ascertaining the details of the incident.
"We are aware of the abduction of Indian nationals from Baghlan province in Afghanistan. We are in contact with Afghan authorities & further details are being ascertained," MEA Spokesperson said.
Baghlan governor Abdulhai Nemati said the Taliban group abducted the employees and moved them to the Dand-e-Shahabuddin area of Pul-e-Khumri city, according to the report.
It quoted Nemati as saying that the Afghan authorities spoke with the Taliban via local people and the terror group said it had abducted the staff members in error, believing they were government employees.
No group has, however, claimed responsibility for the abduction so far.
Nemati said they are trying to release the abductees through tribe elders and mediation.
KEC, a global infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction major, is one of the largest Indian companies in Afghanistan and responsible for electricity supply in the country.
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