Pat Dollard | Young Americans

KABUL, Afghanistan — Italian special forces rescued two captive Italian military personnel from a militant convoy in western Afghanistan early Monday, killing at least eight kidnappers, officials said. Both kidnapped Italians were wounded in the raid.

The two Italians, their Afghan driver and translator had been missing since Saturday when they were last seen at a police checkpoint in the Shindand district of Herat province, police said.

The Italians were ”wounded in the gunbattle that took place when the kidnappers’ convoy was intercepted,” said Maj. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for the NATO force. He said it wasn’t clear if they were hit by bullets from the rescuers or the militants.

The Italians’ Afghan translator was also wounded. Anthony hinted that their driver might have been involved in the kidnappings and might have been killed in the rescue. ”It’s unclear what his status was or is,” Anthony said.

”There were eight or nine hostage-takers who were killed when the hostages were rescued,” he said.

Afghan Gen. Jalandar Shah said Italian special forces rescued the two, whom he said were beaten by their captors.

Defense Ministry Undersecretary Giovanni Lorenzo Forcieri said a ”criminal band” took the Italians, and officials were afraid they would be sold to other groups. A Taliban spokesman told The Associated Press that its militants weren’t behind the kidnappings.

Italy’s Defense Ministry called the two Italians ”military personnel” and the country’s foreign minister called them ”Italian functionaries,” raising the possibility the two work as intelligence agents or special forces.

The kidnappings prompted calls by a few Communist lawmakers in Italy for the country to withdraw its 2,160-member force in Afghanistan — calls rejected by other lawmakers.

In March, five Taliban prisoners were freed in exchange for the release of a hostage Italian journalist — a step many observers feared would only encourage more kidnappings.

Kidnappings are an increasingly common tactic used by insurgents amid a surge in violence that has left more than 4,400 dead this year, most of them militants, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Afghan and Western officials.

At the United Nations in New York, Karzai said Sunday his government was working hard on peace talks to bring Taliban supporters ”back to the fold” — part of a reconciliation process that has been shunned by the Islamic militia’s leaders.

”We are already in contact … with those Taliban who are not part of al-Qaida and terrorist networks, who are really in the majority … and we would like to add to this process as the opportunity presents itself,” Karzai said after a high-level meeting of the country’s supporters and neighbors.

(AP)