Taliban militants in the past days have kidnapped more than 100 travelers in two Afghan provinces.

Taliban militants in the past 3 days have kidnapped 80 to 90 local civilians in Afghanistan's northern province of Badakhshan, officials said on Thursday.

‘Taliban are demanding that the government allows fuel transportation to the gold mine under the militants' control in Raghistan district,’ Mahbubur-Rahman Talat, a provincial council member from Badakhshan said.

He said the commuters are all from Darwaz district who were abducted in Raghistan and efforts by tribal elders are underway to release them but ‘no effort has been made by the Afghan government so far.’  Sakhi Dad Hairdari, a police official in Badakhshan, said the reason for the kidnapping is unknown and efforts by the government are underway to release them.

Badakhshan, a relatively safe province in the past, has been a hotbed for Taliban activity in the last couple of years.

A total of 25 passengers from the central province of Bamyan were also kidnapped by unknown gunmen in the province of Wardak on Wednesday.

‘The commuters were abducted in Jalrez district and reason for the abduction is unknown,’ Mohammad Sardar Bakhtyari, a provincial council member in Wardak, said on Thursday adding that no efforts have been made to release those kidnapped yet.

A local official in Jalrez told Bakhtar News Agency (BNA) that Taliban militants are responsible for the abduction case.

Jalrez, an area heavily contested, has been the scene of numerous kidnappings in the past few years.

Taliban have also besieged Kunduz, a key city in northern Afghanistan, for the past four days, forcing thousands of families to flee the area.