KABUL: Afghan security forces have recovered the bodies of five policemen and three intelligence agents who were kidnapped by insurgents two days ago in eastern Afghanistan, an official said Saturday.Gunmen abducted the eight security troops on Thursday in the Day Mirdad district of Wardak province, said provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid.
The bodies were discovered late Friday and taken to the provincial capital city of Maidan Shahr early Saturday, Shahid said. He added that three suspected insurgents have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and killings.
Wardak province has been the scene of heavy fighting between international troops and the Taleban. It was also in Wardak that insurgents shot down the US Army Chinook early this month, killing 30 American troops, seven Afghan soldiers and an Afghan interpreter.
The violence in the province prompted the WardakÂ’s governorÂ’s office to take the unusual step of publicly rebuking the Afghan military. The office said in a statement that Afghan army troops have enough personnel to secure the province, but fail to do so because the soldiers are confined to a few checkpoints along major roads.
“They are not chasing the enemies, they only patrol on asphalt roads,” the statement said. “They are not making any connections with the local people and they are unable to carry out their duties.”
The governorÂ’s office said that the Taleban continues to threaten local residents despite being outnumbered by Afghan security forces. The statement also said the military consistently fails to follow through with plans made during interagency security meetings in Wardak.
The US military had planned to handover a joint combat outpost in the Tangi Valley area of Wardak, near the site of the US helicopter crash, to the Afghan army in April. Afghan commanders refused to take over the camp, which was then briefly occupied by the Taleban, according to military officials and local townspeople.
Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry, dismissed the criticism as the complaints of a provincial office about a national institution. “The national army cannot receive orders from the provincial governors in their provinces,” he said.