KABUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants kidnapped four Afghan engineers in the southern Kandahar province, the police said Saturday.

    The engineers, who were building a bridge, were abducted in Shah Wali Kot district in northern Kandahar on Friday afternoon, provincial police chief Sayed Aqa Saqib told Xinhua.

    The engineers were working for the government-initiated Afghan national solidarity program, the police chief said.

    He also said local citizens had ensured the engineers' safety, so they went to the area to work.

    Taliban militants kidnapped 23 South Koreans in the central Ghazni province on July 19. Two male hostages were shot dead, and two females were released, while the remaining 19 are still being held by the Taliban.

    Taliban militants have carried out kidnappings in Afghanistan over the past two years frequently, and some hostages were killed.