http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jp0y1OTShqYRFePXG37HgC3RQaWg
Red Cross staff seized, Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan 6 hours ago KABUL (AFP) - Four Red Cross staff, two of them foreigners, were kidnapped near the Afghan capital while two Danish soldiers were killed in an attack by Taliban insurgents, officials said. An overnight operation near the border with Pakistan, meanwhile, killed 18 Taliban, a provincial official said separately, adding there were some civilian casualties although he could not confirm claims that eight were killed. The International Committee of the Red Cross employees were captured Wednesday about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Kabul while on a mission to secure the release of a German engineer kidnapped 10 weeks ago, officials said. Security forces had on Thursday afternoon surrounded the "armed thieves" who abducted the four and they were expected to be freed soon, said Anayatullah Mangal, governor of Sayed Abad district, where the group was snatched. "We are sure they will be freed safe and sound," he said. The ICRC would not confirm the group had been kidnapped, saying only that they had not returned from a mission Wednesday to facilitate the release of the German engineer and around four Afghans abducted with him in mid-July. The report of a new kidnapping comes after a string of abductions of foreigners in Afghanistan, some claimed by the insurgent Taliban movement and some blamed on criminals after cash. A Taliban spokesman said his group was not involved in the disappearance of the Red Cross workers. "There are criminal groups who would abduct people for ransom. It might be their work," Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. The hardline Islamic Taliban launched an insurgency soon after being driven from government in late 2001 in an invasion led by the United States after the 9/11 attacks, which were blamed on Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. The insurgents have stepped up their attacks this year, with 5,000 dead -- most of them rebels, according to an AFP count based on official reports. In the latest incident, Taliban fighters attacked a military base in the south of the country on Wednesday, killing two Danish soldiers, the Danish army said Thursday. A third Dane was wounded, it said in a statement. The Danish contingent with the 40,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) numbers around 400 soldiers and is primarily deployed in southern Helmand province under British command. Including the latest deaths, 175 international troops have been killed in Afghanistan this year alone, most of them in combat operations against Taliban militants. One of those, a soldier from the separate US-led coalition, was killed on Tuesday in the south during one of two major battles with the Taliban that also left nearly 170 militants dead. Officials in eastern Kunar province on the border with Pakistan reported, meanwhile, that ISAF forces had carried out an operation overnight that killed at least 18 Taliban. "There have been some civilian casualties from the operation but I don't have the exact figure," provincial spokesman Zarghon Shah Khaliqyar said. People who said they were wounded in the operation were treated in a hospital in the provincial capital Asadabad, and said around eight civilians were killed. "Four of my daughters are killed and my husband's second wife has also been killed in the bombing," said a woman who gave her name as Tella Gulla. ISAF said it had no information about an operation in Kunar nor of civilian casualties. In another incident, Taliban militants attacked a police post near the southern town of Qalat Wednesday and killed six policemen, provincial police chief Mohammad Yaqob said. Three policemen were wounded. In another development, the government announced it had arrested the Taliban movement's main spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi. A person believed to be the man himself however called media to deny he had been captured. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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