Taliban capture 13 Afghan troops

Taliban insurgents captured 13 Afghan government soldiers on Tuesday after their helicopter crashed in territory under the militants’ control, the police said.

Three soldiers were killed in the crash. Sayed Aqa Saqeb, police chief for the northern province of Faryab where the transport helicopter went down, said it was not clear why it crashed.

“Now we’re thinking of ways to rescue those captured by the Taliban,” Mr Saqeb said. An Army spokesman in northern Afghanistan said he had no information about a helicopter crash. The Taliban, fighting to expel foreign forces and bring down the US-backed government, have made gains over the past year outside their southern and eastern heartlands and into northern areas, including Faryab.