KANDAHAR, Nov 22: A purported spokesman for the Taliban said on Tuesday the group had killed an Indian roadworker they kidnapped at the weekend, but authorities could not confirm the claim. The Indian national had been killed as there had been no response to a 48-hour deadline issued by the Taliban for the road construction company he worked for to leave Afghanistan, purported spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said. The deadline expired at 1330 GMT on Tuesday.

Mr Ahmadi offered no evidence to support his claim. Men who say they speak for the Taliban often call the media to claim attacks and other incidents of violence, but their information has not always been correct.

“Today at 6pm we killed the Indian roadworker with Kalashnikov shots, based on our earlier ultimatum,” Mr Ahmadi said in a telephone call from an undisclosed location.—AFP