Taliban says it traded hostages for body

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 7 (UPI) -- Spokesmen for the Taliban said Afghan officials gave them the body of a commander killed last month in exchange for the release of hostages held since March.

The Taliban released three or four Afghan Health Ministry workers and also handed over the body of a physician who had been beheaded, the BBC reported.

Taliban spokesmen said Afghan officials released the body of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah. A Taliban spokesman said Dadullah's family had reburied him.

Afghan officials wouldn't confirm the Taliban's account of the swap.

The Health Ministry workers were seized in March after administering vaccines in a refugee camp. The BBC reported that the physician in the group was apparently beheaded two days before the exchange.

Dadullah was one of the Taliban's most-feared commanders and had been linked to killings and kidnappings, the BBC reported.