It said the police operation took place on Friday in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province, where the insurgents seized 23 South Koreans on July 19. “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. It did not provide any further details or the identities of the slain Taliban. Ghazni has seen several military operations since the captives’ release on August 29 and August 30, possibly reflecting a desire by the Afghan government to assert its authority on the rebellious region following the abductions. Another Taliban commander behind the kidnapping of South Korean church workers, Mullah Mateen, was killed in an operation early this month. In other violence on Friday, at least eight suspected Taliban were killed in separate Afghan army operations in Helmand province, while two Afghan soldiers lost their lives in insurgent violence in western Farah province, the Defense Ministry said.
More than 4,300 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.