Taliban claims seven Afghans executed

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A Taliban spokesman said seven hostages were killed Sunday during an attempted escape, media in Kabul, Afghanistan reported.

In a telephone call to the media center, the spokesman said two truck drivers, two soldiers, and three police officers were gunned down trying to escape, the Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, reported.

The group was being held in the southern province of Ghazni. They were abducted while traveling on a main road in the province last weekend.

Elsewhere, the Afghan Interior Ministry issued a statement Sunday saying five Taliban fighters had been killed by Afghan forces and NATO troops in a battle in the central province of Uruzgan, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

There was no report of NATO casualties in the battle.