KANDAHAR, June 17: The Taliban said they had captured 11 Afghan troops, a senior policeman and a district chief in a district of Kandahar where US and Afghan forces staged an anti-guerilla operation just days earlier.

Taliban commander Mullah Rahim said the 13 were captured in a raid on Mian Nishin district of Kandahar province on Thursday.

“We have hidden them somewhere and will decide on their fate following instructions from our leadership,” Rahim told Reuters, using a satellite phone belonging to the district police chief.

A senior police officer in Kandahar city confirmed that the phone belonged to the police chief and that authorities had lost touch with the 13.

Mian Nishin was the scene of joint operations by Afghan and US-led forces this week in which government officials said nine guerillas were killed.

Recent weeks have seen a surge in Taliban-linked violence in the south and east of Afghanistan, raising fears for the security of parliamentary elections due to be held on Sept. 18.

On Friday, a roadside bomb exploded in Helmand province, killing a soldier and wounding three policemen, including a district police chief, provincial governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada told Reuters.

In Zabul province, which adjoins Kandahar to the east, provincial spokesman Gulab Shah said three insurgents were killed on Thursday while trying to ambush a government convoy.

A Taliban spokesman denied this report and said the Taliban had inflicted losses on the government forces in the ambush.

—Reuters