KABUL: Police say insurgents have kidnapped three Afghan soldiers and another man from a bus in eastern Afghanistan and killed all four.

Police official Mohammad Zaman says armed militants stopped the bus as it was traveling in Paktia province's Ahmad Khil district and forced the four men off the vehicle.

Provincial deputy police chief Zaman says their bullet-ridden bodies were found lying on a road late Thursday.

He said Friday that three of the men were off-duty soldiers who were traveling to see their families. The fourth victim's identity was unclear.

The Taliban and their allies frequently kill Afghan police and soldiers to counter the plan to strengthen national security forces. They are due to take over main responsibility for fighting militants after international combat troops leave in 2014.