The decapitated bodies of six Afghan policemen were found in southern Afghanistan at the weekend, on the same day Taliban rebels claimed to have beheaded a missing US soldier, officials said today.
The bodies and heads of the policemen, who had been abducted by Taliban rebels on Friday, were found dumped in Deshu district of Helmand province, near the border with Pakistan, yesterday.
The bodies were found the same day Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said they had beheaded a missing American commando in the eastern province of Kunar.
US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore said she had no information to confirm the Taliban claim that the missing commando had been killed, or had been captured, and a search for him was continuing.
Afghan Interior Minster Ali Ahmad Jalali told a news briefing those responsible could not be considered Muslims. "They are not even human beings because it is against Islam and humanity," he said.
Hundreds of US and Afghan troops have been searching for the missing commando, part of a four-man Navy SEAL team that went missing in Kunar during a clash with militants on June 28th.
The US military has said two of the missing commandos were found dead last Monday, having been killed in action, while another had been rescued and one was missing.
A US helicopter sent to aid the SEALs was shot down the same day they went missing, killing all 16 troops aboard, the heaviest US losses in a single combat operation in Afghanistan.