By KUNA
Kabul : Afghan police have reported eliminating eight insurgents during a clash in the volatile southern region where the hunt by security agencies have entered the second day to recover a female American aid worker kidnapped by unidentified armed men on Saturday. The clash with militants took place in the restive southern province of Uruzgan, where mostly Dutch troops are stationed as part of the NATO’s peacekeeping and counter-insurgency operations. Provincial police chief Juma Gul Himmat told journalists that eight Taliban militants were killed and two policemen sustained injuries in the encounter that lasted for several hours.
He said the fighting erupted in Deh Rawood district Saturday night and continuted intermittently till Sunday. He claimed bodies of those killed during the fighting had been found along with weapons. The Interior or Defence ministries in Kabul or the Taliban militants so far did not issue any comment. Meanwhile, the hunt for an American female aid worker, kidnapped in Kandahar province on Saturday, had entered the second day with no clue to her whereabouts. According to residents, police personnel had been deputed on all entry and exit points to the city of Kandahar, where the woman and her driver were snatched from road by veiled armed men. Earlier, Taliban spokesman Zabeehullah Mujahid said their men were not involved in the kidnapping. After his statement, it is believed that the American woman may be abducted by some criminal gang for ransom.