A British engineer has been kidnapped after gunmen attacked a convoy in western Afghanistan.
Taliban guerrillas said they carried out last night's attack in the western province of Farah and were holding the Briton, but an Interior Ministry spokesman said a criminal gang was responsible.
The attack took place on the road between the southwestern city of Kandahar and the western city of Herat.
"They killed three policemen and kidnapped a British engineer working for a road construction company," the spokesman said.
A spokesman for Afghanistan's Nato-led peacekeeping force said checkpoints had been set up and surveillance aircraft scrambled late on Wednesday.
Nearly four years after the Taliban were forced from power by US-led forces, security remains a major problem in Afghanistan.
Taliban guerrillas, who have not been know to operate in force in the west of the country, are battling about 20,000 US troops in the south and east. About 10,000 Nato-led peacekeepers operate mostly in Kabul, the north and the west.
About 1,000 people, including 48 US troops, have been killed in a surge of violence this year, but Afghan and US officials say September 18th elections will not be disrupted.