Afghan Commandos Rescue 60 Hostages Held By Taliban

Sixty Afghan hostages held prisoner by the Taliban in a southern province in Afghanistan have been rescued by Afghan military commandos and an elite counterterrorism unit.

"Afghan special security forces liberated over 60 prisoners from an illegally-run Taliban prison in Bar Now Zad Village in Now Zad District of Helmand province last night," according to a statement released by Resolute Support, the NATO training mission in Afghanistan.

"The Ktah Khas, Afghanistan's national-level counterterrorism unit, and an Afghan army commando unit jointly conducted this successful mission," the statement said. "Coalition forces supported their Afghan partners in a train, advise and assist role."

Under the cover of darkness, Afghan military helicopters from the Afghan Special Missing Wing (Unit 777) transported the Afghan special operations forces to the village.

Two Taliban fighters were killed in Thursday night's assault and numerous others were wounded and detained. There were no Afghan military casualties.

The freed prisoners were flown to the neighboring province of Kandahar where they were turned over to Afghan authorities.

It is unclear if U.S. military forces provided support to the raid. Last December the same units conducted a similar rescue at another Taliban prison in Now Zad that freed 60 prisoners. The U.S. supported that rescue mission by providing overhead drone surveillance during the raid.

A longtime Taliban stronghold, the Afghan military has been hard pressed to push back a resurgent Taliban in Helmand province. Late last year several hundred American military forces returned to Helmand to begin retraining Afghan army forces. American forces do not participate in joint military operations.

U.S. special operations forces do, however, conduct joint operations with their Afghan counterparts as part of their mission, which brings them closer to the front lines.

In early January, Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock, 30, was killed during an extended firefight in Marjah in Helmand province while helping Afghan forces battle Taliban fighters. Two others were wounded.