KABUL -- An Afghan man taken hostage by the Taliban made a dramatic escape by stealing a gun while his captors were praying and fatally shooting seven of them and wounding 18 others, officials said Thursday (March 15).
Awal Khan and a local police officer Wednesday (March 14) were kidnapped as they were driving in Paktika Province, provincial deputy security chief Abdul Rauf Masood told AFP.
The officer was killed and Awal, 36, was taken to a Taliban compound in Gomal District, where he was held for hours.
During afternoon prayers, Awal, who Masood said was handcuffed at the time, grabbed a weapon belonging to one of his captors and opened fire.
"Awal Khan sprayed bullets on all of them, killing seven and wounding 18 others," provincial governor's spokesman Mohammad Rahman Ayaz told AFP.
Awal then fled in a pickup truck belonging to his kidnappers, Ayaz said.
His brother, a local police commander, shared details of the incident with authorities.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed to AFP that the group had kidnapped the two men and that Awal had opened fire on the militants. Mujahid put the death toll at three.
The Taliban is often involved in kidnappings of Afghans and foreigners, sometimes holding hostages for years in hopes of a prisoner exchange.
