Mohammad Ismail, a district police chief in Helmand, says initial reports show the attack happened in Gareshk district. He says the Taliban forced the vehicles to stop at gunpoint. It's not known where the Taliban have taken the abducted passengers.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yusouf Ahmadi says the militants still hold 27 of the abducted but freed the others, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier this month, the Taliban killed 12 people they had captured, including policemen and soldiers, in eastern Ghazni province. Last month, Taliban-linked militants killed at least nine people after seizing passengers off buses in northern Kunduz province.
Highways around Afghanistan passing through insurgency prone areas have become exceedingly dangerous, with the Taliban and other armed groups frequently kidnapping and killing travelers.