Taliban threaten to kill 13 kidnapped Afghan police & officials

The suspected Taliban kidnapped a district police chief and 12 other policemen and government officials in Mian Nisheen near the southern city of Kandahar, officials said.

Malik Noor Mohammed, the district chief of southern Kandahar's Mia Nisheen, and the 12 others were taken prisoner late Wednesday, a provincial police commander, Mohammed Salem, told AFP.

"The district chief and police chief of Mia Nisheen along with 11 other policemen and civilians have been missing since Wednesday," Salem said.

"We suspect they have been taken hostage by Taliban," he added.

Abdul Hakim Latifi, the rebels' spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack saying the kidnapped men would be tried in a Taliban court later on Saturday.

"We will put them on trial today. If they are found guilty they'll be executed. If not they will be released," Hakimi told AFP by satellite phone from an unknown location.

He said 14 other policemen were captured but later released by the hardline militia after an attack on the district government office in Mian Nisheen late Friday.

"The Taliban attacked the district last night and took control of it," a high-ranking police officer told AFP, asking not to be named.

Also on Friday, the Afghan National Army (ANA) launched an operation against militants in Shah Wali Kot district on the outskirts of Kandahar city in which two militants and an Afghan government soldier were killed.

"During the operation two Taliban were killed and two others were wounded. They left behind the dead," ANA military commander for southern Afghanistan, Muslim Hamed, told AFP.