KABUL, Dec 15: A Turkish engineer taken hostage with a driver and interpreter in Afghanistan was killed by kidnappers who had been cornered by police, officials said on Wednesday.

The victim, named by Turkish diplomats as Eyup Orel, was working on a US-funded road project in eastern Kunar province when he was abducted on Tuesday. He was found dead on Wednesday morning after police closed in on the hostage-takers, interior ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal told AFP. The driver and interpreter were freed earlier.

"After security forces cornered them, they released the driver and interpreter but killed ... the Turkish engineer," Mr Mashal said. The kidnappers escaped after the shooting.

The engineer is the second Turk to die this year in Afghanistan. He is also the fourth foreigner to have been abducted in seven weeks, raising new fears of a wave of Iraq-style kidnappings in the war-torn country.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the kidnappers. No group has come forward to take responsibility. But an Afghan official said earlier that militants linked to the Hezb-i-Islami group led by fugitive former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar were the prime suspects. -AFP