Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan authorities have recovered the bodies of five police officers and three intelligence agents just days after they were kidnapped by insurgents in the country's volatile Wardak province, officials said Sunday. The men had been driving through a mountainous district outside the provincial capital of Maidan Shar on Thursday when gunmen stopped their vehicle and took them hostage, according to Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial governor's spokesman. The Taliban have since claimed responsibility for the killing, according to the group's spokesman. Wardak has long been considered a hotbed of insurgent activity and is the province where militants reportedly shot down a NATO Chinook helicopter last week that killed 38 people, including 30 Americans.
The men were kidnapped Thursday and killed . The Taliban take responsibility for the killing . Wardak has long been considered a hotbed of insurgent activity .