Taliban free Frenchman, but three locals captive

Kandahar: Taliban militants yesterday released a French aid worker who was kidnapped more than five weeks ago and said it would decide later on the fate of his three Afghan co-workers.

Eric Damfreville was handed over to tribal elders in the southern province of Kandahar and then to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi.

ICRC official Franz Rauchenstein confirmed the release. "He has been handed over to us, it's true, I can confirm," he said.

Ahmadi said the Taliban decided to free the Terre d'Enfance (A World For Our Children) aid worker after French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy suggested France could end its military presence in Afghanistan.

Rethink on troops

Sarkozy had "said in his speeches that he will think about the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan," Ahmadi said.

Meanwhile, fresh airstrikes in the south killed 10 Taliban fighters close to where villagers say about 40 civilians died during a battle earlier this week, an official said yesterday.