The People’s Peace Movement (PPM) on Wednesday claimed that 27 members were kidnapped by the Taliban on Tuesday evening as the group was traveling from Herat on the Farah road.

A PPM member said that the Taliban was responsible for their abduction, but the Taliban has not claimed responsibility and the PPM has been unable to contact the Taliban.

The movement members said that this is the fourth time the Taliban has taken PPM members captive.

Dadullah Qani, a member of the Farah provincial council, confirmed the incident and said that the convoy was traveling from Herat to Nimroz province and they were kidnapped by the Taliban on the road in Farah.

Farah police also said that efforts have begun to track the kidnappers.

The last time PPM members were abducted they were taken to an unknown area in Mosa Qala district of Helmand province and after few days they were released.

The People’s Peace Movement, also called the Helmand Peace Convoy, initially started their marches for peace when a group of at least a dozen activists gathered in the city of Lashkargah in March 2018 to protest an attack that killed around 16 people that month. About a month later, the activists left Helmand and marched on foot towards Kabul.

For 38 days the activists walked across provinces--through villages and towns-- and others joined them along the way.