Kabul, Dec 2 (IANS) Anti-government militants abducted 40 truck drivers in Afghanistan's northern province of Samangan on Sunday, police said.

"Armed Taliban rebels stopped 40 to 45 trucks carrying coal in Khashak Dara village of Dara-e-Suf Payen district ... and took their drivers, possibly 40 drivers or more, to unknown locations," a police spokesman told Xinhua news agency.

Search operations are underway for the release of the drivers, the official said.

In a similar incident, Taliban militants abducted 25 commuters in the neighboring Sari Pul province last week, according to local officials.

--IANS mr/