Seven, including five kidnappers, killed in Afghanistan

Afghan security personnel attacked a band of kidnappers in the northern Balkh province to try to rescue the two people they held, killing seven people including the five kidnappers, provincial official Mawlavi Zabiullah Nurani said Monday.

According to the official, the kidnappers captured two people possibly for ransom in Dasht-e-Shur area outside Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital.

"Five kidnappers abducted two men and the security personnel attacked the abductors in Dasht-e-Shur area, killing the abductors but unfortunately the two abductees were also killed in the firefight," Nurani said.

One of the security personnel sustained a minor injury in the rescue mission, the official added.