KABUL: Taliban militants kidnapped about 60 civilians in central Afghanistan over the past week, officials said on Sunday, with more than half still being held amid efforts by the United States and other foreign powers to start peace talks.

The Taliban took the hostages in the central province of Daikundi after a women escaped a Taliban-controlled village in a neighbouring province, according to the provincial deputy governor, Mohammad Ali Uruzgani.

Some 26, including women and children, had been released and tribal elders were mediating to free the remaining civilians, Uruzgani added.

A Taliban spokesman denied kidnapping the civilians.

The militants, fighting to re-introduce strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster from power, signed a troop withdrawal agreement with the United States in February.—Reuters