KABUL: Seventeen Afghan soldiers, who were taken hostage a couple of days ago, have been killed by Taliban militants in northern Badakshan Province of the war-torn country, officials said on Wednesday.
On Monday, the insurgents ambushed a supply convoy of Afghan soldiers in the rugged Warduj District of Badakshan Province, killing one soldier and capturing 23 others. The 17 captured soldier’s bullet-riddled bodies were discovered last night by local people in the rugged Warduj District
“The enemy have executed 17 soldiers whose bodies were found last night,” provincial deputy police chief Sayed Jahangir Keramat said. “Seven other soldiers were released in exchange for some Taliban prisoners.”
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack but said the deaths had occurred during fighting rather than after the soldiers had been captured. “The soldiers were all killed in the battlefield,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.
