Taliban takes Afghan police chief hostage

Taliban takes Afghan police chief hostage 20 Oct 2015 9:05 PM Police chief and 17 of his men are missing after the Taliban seized Ghormach district of Afghanistan’s Faryab province. Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman of Afghanistan’s interior ministry, said on Tuesday that the men had not been heard from since Monday, a day after the Taliban takeover. The armed group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Al Jazeera that the Taliban detained the wounded police chief and 14 other policemen. There was no immediate explanation for the difference in numbers. “We held them [police chief and 14 other policemen] captive yesterday. We can’t say what we will ask in return for their freedom, but we will make an announcement soon,” Mujahid said. “The police chief is injured but still alive.” Reinforcements have been sent to the province and First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, a former rebel leader with no formal position in the military, would coordinate operations there, Sediqqi said. Elsewhere in the country, troops were battling Taliban in three districts in southern Helmand province — Musa Qala, Nad Ali and Nawzad, Sediqqi said. “We are facing security problems in at least nine districts,” Sediqqi said.