KABUL - A provincial governor says Taliban militants have kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's education minister.

Halim Fedai says men on two motorbikes seized the father of Education Minister Farouq Wardak in Sayed Abad district of Wardak province on Monday.

Sher Wali Wardak, another son of the kidnapped 80-year-old Khoja Mir, says the family is in contact with the kidnappers.

Kidnappings of wealthy Afghans have spiked over the last year by criminals and militants seeking money or political leverage.