Afghan chief 'held by Taliban'

2004-04-10 20:48

Kabul - Suspected Taliban militants have kidnapped a high-ranking local government officer in south-central Afghanistan's Uruzgan province, an official said on Saturday.

"Our intelligence chief, Haji Ahmadullah and two of his bodyguards have been kidnapped by Taliban while driving to the provincial capital Tarin Kowt from a mission in neighbouring districts," a security official said.

The official said that the three men were kidnapped on Thursday and are believed to have been taken to remote Shah Wali Kot district, a southern mountainous area believed to be the main hideout for Taliban remnants in Uruzgan.

Speaking by satellite phone from Tarin Kowt, the official said the kidnappers had not made any contact with government authorities but added: "We expect them to contact us at any moment."

Uruzgan, where US-led coalition soldiers have recently come under attack from militants, is an area where Taliban and other insurgents are believed to be active and have a strong local following.

The official said that Taliban operatives, including Mullah Abdul Razaq, were believed to be behind the kidnappings.

Abdul Razaq, formerly a high-ranking Taliban official during the 1996-2001 fundamentalist regime, has been blamed for much of the unrest in Uruzgan, 360km southwest of Kabul.

The Uruzgan official said government forces had conducted a search operation for the men on Thursday and Friday but were unsuccessful.

More than two and half years after the extremist Taliban regime was smashed by a US-led military campaign in late 2001, the remnants of the militia still carry out regular attacks on foreign and pro-government troops.

Uruzgan, the birth place of Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, is one of the provinces in southern Afghanistan which has been hard-hit by a wave of insurgency blamed on the remnants of the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies.

The south, east and southeast of Afghanistan is currently the focus of the US-led Operation Mountain Storm to kill or capture al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

- AFP