Afghan Taliban say they killed Indian hostage

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Taliban guerrillas have
killed an Indian road engineer after his company failed to meet
an ultimatum to cease operations in Afghanistan, a spokesman
for the militants said on Tuesday.

P.M. Kutty was shot dead on the orders of the Taliban’s
council at 6:00 p.m. (1230 GMT), after a deadline passed for
his company to pull out of Afghanistan, Qari Mohammad Yousuf
told Reuters.

“Since the Indian company did not listen or reply to our
response, we killed the Indian engineer,” Yousuf said by
satellite phone from an undisclosed location.

Kutty, an engineer with state-run Border Roads
Organization, was abducted from his car in the southern
province of Nimrozon Saturday along with his local driver and
two guards.

The Taliban spokesman said details would be given later on
where to find the body.

He said the driver has been freed, but the Taliban council
had still to decide on the fate of the two guards.

An Indian embassy official in Kabul said he had no
information about the report.

In New Delhi, the foreign ministry said in a statement:

“We are in constant touch with Afghan authorities who have
stated that they have no such confirmation and that their
efforts to seek the safe release of the hostage are still
continuing.”

New Delhi has good relations with Kabul and is involved in
several reconstruction projects, on which hundreds of Indians
are working.

Two Indians kidnapped by suspected Taliban members while
working on a U.S.-funded road project in late 2003 were
released unharmed after nearly three weeks in captivity.

While confirming last Saturday’s kidnapping had taken
place, the Afghan government has not said who was responsible.

The Taliban have in the past kidnapped several Turkish and
Indian engineers involved in roadworks in southern Afghanistan.
One Turk was killed, but the rest were freed, apparently after
ransoms were paid.

In September, Taliban guerrillas abducted and killed a
Briton involved in a road project in neighboring Farah
province.

The latest incident coincides with a rise in violence,
including a series of suicide attacks by Taliban guerrillas
last week in the capital and in the south, a stronghold of the
Taliban before U.S.-led forces ousted them from power in 2001.