taker among 22 Taliban killed-Afghan police

KABUL, Sep 4 (Reuters) Afghan police killed 22 insurgents including a senior Taliban commander they say was involved in the abduction of 23 South Korean missionaries, a provincial police chief said today.

However the US military said it was not yet clear whether any hostage-takers were among ''several'' insurgents killed during the pre-dawn clash in Qarabagh district of the southern province of Ghazni.

Ghazni police chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai said Taliban commander Mullah Mateen was among those killed, identifying him as one of the hostage-takers.

''He was involved in the kidnapping. We have reconaissance colleagues on the ground,'' Ahmadzai told Reuters by telephone from Ghazni.

The Taliban seized the 23 Koreans from a bus in Qarabagh on July 19. The militants killed two male hostages but freed the rest in batches after weeks in captivity after striking a deal with Seoul.

Those released are now back in South Korea.

REUTERS PD PM1758