The Taliban beheaded an Afghan doctor Tuesday and will kill four more hostages unless the government hands over the corpse of a top militant commander, said a spokesman for the group.
The purported spokesman, Shuhabuddin Athul, blamed the beheading on the Afghan government. He said officials didn't keep a promise to swap the body of Taliban military chief Mullah Dadullah for five hostages — the doctor, three Afghan nurses and a driver.
Dadullah, also known in Afghanistan as "the butcher of Kandahar," was killed by U.S.-led forces in May in what NATO called a "serious blow" to the insurgency. The Taliban commander's body was reportedly buried in a secret location.
On Monday, a Public Health Ministry spokesman said President Hamid Karzai had ordered the trade of Dadullah's body for the hostages, who were abducted by Taliban fighters in southern Kandahar province in March.
Athul said Tuesday that a relative of Dadullah went to retrieve his body but Afghan authorities did not hand it over. The claim could not be immediately verified.
The Taliban had reportedly given Afghan authorities a Tuesday deadline for the transfer.
Dadullah's death was seen as one of the biggest blows to the Taliban since a U.S.-led coalition toppled their regime in late 2001.
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