(2 Aug 2007)
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
1. Wide of police vehicles outside Ghazni hospital, policemen in foreground
2. Mid of police getting on back of vehicle
3. Various of doctors treating a wounded policeman
4. Wide of wounded policeman
5. Close-up of wounded policeman's face
6. Wide of wounded district police chief of Rashidan district in Ghazni province Abdul Razaq Mashal laying on hospital bed
7. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Abdul Razaq Mashal, police chief of Rashidan district:
"During this ambush two of us were wounded. One is dead and another one is missing."
8. Policemen sitting on back of police truck
9. Police vehicle leaving the hospital
10. Wide of police vehicle driving
STORYLINE:
The police chief of Rashidan district in Ghazni province said on Thursday that one policeman had died, two were wounded and another missing after he was ambushed the previous day.
Purported Taliban fighters ambushed Abdul Razaq Mashal and others in Ghazni on Wednesday, and the ensuing gun battle left five suspected militants and one policeman dead, according to police.
Speaking from hospital in Ghazni where he was being treated on Thursday, Mashal said "During this ambush two of us were wounded. One is dead and another one is missing".
The policemen were on their way to the governor's home when they were attacked.
The attack took place as police efforts are intensifying to capture Taliban militants and prevent further kidnappings following the capture of 23 South Koreans in Ghazni province on July 19 as they travelled by bus from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar.
Two of the hostages were shot dead.
Also on Thursday, South Korean and Afghan officials searched for a meeting place after agreeing to hold face-to-face talks with the Taliban to seek the release of the remaining 21 South Korean captives, a chief negotiator said.
Taliban captors have agreed to meet with South Korea's ambassador, but they have not yet found a suitable place, said the head of a delegation negotiating with the Taliban.
Purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the South Koreans were willing to hold a meeting in Taliban-controlled territory.
Ahmadi told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location that the Taliban wanted to negotiate directly with the Koreans because they believed the Kabul administration was not sincere about releasing the Taliban prisoners.
After the latest of a series of deadlines passed on Wednesday, Ahmadi said the remaining 21 hostages were still alive, but two of the women were very sick and could die from illness.
As the drama surrounding the South Korean captives entered its 15th day, the journal Newsweek reported a regional Taliban commander claiming to be the mastermind behind the abductions as saying the militants might prolong the crisis to embarrass Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The commander, who did not give his name, said that militants want to secure the freedom of eight Taliban prisoners in exchange for all the South Korean hostages.
He also said the 16 women among the captives were safe for now.
None of the claims could be independently verified, but Afghan officials have said that the militants have demanded the release of local Taliban fighters from Ghazni province as well as a former militia spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, who was arrested by Afghan intelligence agents earlier this year.
The Afghan government has said it is opposed to a prisoner swap, concerned it could encourage more kidnappings.
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