3 alleged Taliban kidnappers killed

Afghan police killed three Taliban commanders allegedly involved in the abduction of 23 South Koreans two months ago, the Interior Ministry said.

The police operation took place Friday in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, where insurgents seized the 23 South Koreans on July 19, the Interior Ministry said.

"The commanders who were killed during this operation were directly involved in the kidnapping case of the Korean hostages," the ministry said in a statement Saturday. It did not provide any further details or the identities of the slain Taliban.

There have been several military operations in Ghazni since the release of the last of the captives on Aug. 30, possibly reflecting the Afghan government's desire to assert authority over the rebellious region following the abductions.

Earlier this month, Afghan officials said they killed a Taliban commander called Mullah Mateen, accused of being behind the kidnapping of the South Korean church workers.

Two of the Korean hostages were slain soon after the kidnapping. Two women were released during Taliban negotiations with South Korea, and the remaining 19 were freed after Seoul repeated a long-standing commitment to withdraw its 200 soldiers in Afghanistan by year's end and prevent Christian missionaries from traveling to Afghanistan.

Early Sunday in Garmsir district in the south, Afghan and coalition forces using small-arms fire and airstrikes "killed several suspected militants" during an operation, the coalition said.

Meanwhile, an estimated 40 insurgents armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades attacked an Afghan police and coalition patrol Saturday afternoon in the Musa Qala district of nearby Helmand province, the coalition said in a statement.

The joint forces repelled the attack and called in airstrikes, leaving a dozen suspected militants dead, it said.