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WORLD / Middle East
Afghans: Taliban behind kidnappings dies
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-18 19:59
KABUL, Afghanistan - US airstrikes targeting a meeting of Taliban leaders
killed a high-ranking commander involved in the kidnappings of 23 South
Koreans two months ago, Afghan officials said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, NATO reported that another of its soldiers had died in an
explosion in Afghanistan, where violence has soared this year amid a
Taliban-led insurgency.
Mullah Abdullah Jan, the Taliban commander of Qara Bagh district in
Ghazni province, was among 12 killed in the strike on a mud-brick housing
compound overnight in neighboring Giro district, said Ghazni provincial
police chief Gen. Ali Shah Ahmadzai.
The U.S.-led coalition said "several" suspected militants were killed and
four detained during an operation in Giro that included gunfire and
airstrikes, but it could not immediately confirm that Jan was killed.
Jan was the fifth Taliban commander allegedly involved in the abductions
who has been reported killed in recent days, and believed to be the
highest-ranking one eliminated so far. Jan watched as his fighters
stopped and kidnapped a tour bus carrying the South Koreans in July,
Ahmadzai said.
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry on Sunday said police had killed three
Taliban commanders allegedly involved in the abductions. Another, a
Mullah Mateen, was said to be killed in fighting earlier in the month.
There have been several military operations in Ghazni since the release
of the last of the captives on Aug. 30, possibly reflecting the desires
of the Afghan government or U.S. and NATO forces to assert authority over
the rebellious southeastern region following the abductions.
Two of the Korean hostages were slain soon after the kidnappings on July
19. Two women were released later during the Taliban's negotiations with
South Korea. The remaining 19 were freed after further Taliban-South
Korean talks.
An explosion Monday killed the NATO soldier and wounded another in
southern Afghanistan, the alliance said Tuesday. The NATO statement did
not provide any further details about the incident or the nationality of
the victims.
In Helmand province, meanwhile, a gunbattle in Garmser district Monday
killed six suspected Taliban, while nine others died in an airstrike in
Kajaki district, the Ministry of Defense said.
More than 4,300 people — mostly militants — have died in
insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press
tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.
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