Fifteen soldiers including two foreigners were taken hostage by the Taliban on Tuesday after their helicopter crash-landed in northern Afghanistan, local officials and militant sources said.

Fifteen soldiers including two foreigners were taken hostage by the Taliban on Tuesday after their helicopter crash-landed in northern Afghanistan, local officials and militant sources said.

The helicopter went down after experiencing technical problems, local officials said, and 15 people on board were seized by the militant group, including two foreign soldiers whose nationality is yet to be confirmed.

Three people were also killed in the crash, which happened in the Pashtun Kot district of Faryab province, an area near the border with Turkmenistan that is partly controlled by the Taliban.

The Afghan army launched an operation late Tuesday to try and rescue the group, but was forced to abandon the raid after facing strong resistance from the militants.