Truck driver beheaded in Afghanistan

The decapitated body of an Afghan truck driver supplying NATO forces in southern Afghanistan was found dumped at the side of a highway Wednesday, a district chief said.

The murdered man was captured with his vehicle in Zabul province about a week ago by suspected Taliban who are active in southern Afghanistan.

His body was found at the side of the Kabul-Kandahar highway with the head next to it, Shah Joy district chief Tor Jan said. The remains were taken to the district hospital, he added.

The drivers of trucks supplying foreign forces are regular targets of the extremist Taliban, which was toppled from government in 2001 by a US-led coalition.

Militants at the weekend cut off the noses and ears of three drivers supplying US military bases in the mountainous eastern province of Nuristan. Police blamed the Taliban.

The Al-Qaeda-linked movement also last week beheaded the driver of an Italian journalist captured March 4 in the southern province of Helmand.

The journalist was freed Monday in exchange for Taliban prisoners. His Afghan interpreter is still being held.