A Taliban commander involved in the abduction of 23 South Korean missionaries was among dozens of insurgents killed in clashes in southern Afghanistan overnight, police claimed today.
The police chief of Ghazni province said Taliban commander Mullah Mateen was among 22 insurgents killed in a clash in the province's Qarabagh district.
However the US military said it was not yet clear whether any hostage-takers were among "several" insurgents killed in Qarabagh.
It said a dozen militants had been killed in a separate battle in the southern province of Kandahar overnight. Officials also said three policemen had been killed in two separate suicide blasts in the south on Tuesday.
The clashes were the latest in a rash of confrontations in the Taliban-dominated south in recent weeks in which the US-led military says coalition forces have killed hundreds of insurgents. The Taliban concede some losses but say the reported toll is a lie.
Just days after releasing 19 South Korean hostages after striking a deal with Seoul, the Taliban said yesterday they would abduct and kill more nationals from foreign countries whose troops serve under Nato and the US military in the country.
A senior Taliban commander claimed the deal also included a ransom payment of more than $20 million, which would be used to buy weapons and fund suicide attacks.
Both the South Korean government and a Taliban spokesman deny a ransom was paid.