Four Afghans, including an engineer contracted to the International Organisation for Migration, have been abducted in south-eastern Afghanistan, officials said on Monday.
Police blamed the kidnapping in the province of Paktia on Sunday on the Taliban movement, which has in the past abducted several Afghans and foreigners working on reconstruction projects.
Provincial police chief General Abdul Hanaan Raufi told AFP that two of the abducted men were contractors and two were community liaison officers.
The IOM in Kabul said one of the engineers was contracted to the group but was not a staff member. "We have tried to win their release through negotiation via tribal elders and influentials," Raufi said.
The Taliban, which began an insurgency after being removed from government in 2001, have killed some of the foreign and Afghan nationals they have kidnapped.
The movement targets its insurgency at Afghan and foreign troops as well as UN and non-government organisation workers and government employees.
On Wednesday a 36-year-old Italian photojournalist, Gabriele Torsello, was freed after three weeks in captivity in the volatile south of the country.
His abductors had initially claimed to be from the Taliban but main spokesmen for the movement said they were not involved and reportedly even called for his release.
South and south-eastern Afghanistan have been hard hit by a wave of violence linked to the Taliban. Al Qaeda is also said to have a hand in the bloodshed as are other factions.