Facing fewer checkpoints, Taliban make Afghan road trips more risky

An Afghan policeman keeps watch at a check post on a highway, north of Kabul, Afghanistan June 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

KABUL (Reuters) - A series of kidnappings and murders on Afghanistan's highways has some officials and travellers questioning the NATO-backed strategy that reduced security check posts protecting roads in order to free up police and soldiers to go after the Taliban.

Since the end of May, more than 200 people have been reported kidnapped and at least 21 murdered in northern and eastern Afghanistan.