A senior Afghan Shi'ite community leader says Islamic State (IS) militants are responsible for kidnapping dozens of Shi'ite men and boys earlier this year.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Mohaqiq told RFE/RL correspondent Freshta Shikhany on April 4 that two former Taliban leaders, Mullah Mansur Dadullah and Mullah Abdullah Kaka, were behind the abduction.
“In some places, the white flag of the Taliban has been changed for the black [IS] flag,” Mohaqiq added.
In the mass abduction, masked gunmen seized about 30 passengers from two buses in the southern province of Zabul on February 24 as they were traveling in two buses toward the capital, Kabul, on Afghanistan's main ring-road highway.
According to local officials, gunmen rounded up male Hazara passengers and whisked them away, while women, children, and non-Harazas were left behind.
