KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants on Tuesday intercepted three long-distance buses along a main road in Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz, kidnapping over 45 passengers, sources said.

"The initial reports found that 16 travelers were killed. Our security force had launched an operation to locate and rescue the remaining people," a provincial security source told Xinhua anonymously.

Hijratullah Akbari, a provincial police official, confirmed to Xinhua earlier that six of the passengers were killed in the incident.