KABUL, Afghanistan, April 8 — Six NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, NATO said in a statement issued from the Kandahar air base. All six soldiers were Canadian, according to the Canadian Department of National Defense, which said on its Web site that a roadside bomb had exploded near their vehicle west of Kandahar City and that two Canadian soldiers were also wounded, one seriously. Canadian troops in the NATO force are mostly based in Kandahar Province and have suffered heavy casualties over the past year from roadside and suicide bombs. British, American, Dutch and Danish troops are deployed in neighboring Helmand Province on an operation to fight Taliban insurgents who control a whole swath of territory there.
The Taliban said Sunday that they had executed the Afghan interpreter kidnapped with an Italian journalist after the government failed to meet its demands for the release of two of their members from prison.
Shahabuddin Atal, who claimed to be a spokesman for the Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, told news agencies that Ajmal Naqshbandi, an interpreter from Kabul, had been killed Sunday. There was no independent confirmation of the killing. A presidential spokesman said that the government was looking into the report and that it would not comment until it was confirmed.
Mr. Naqshbandi was working with an Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, and an Afghan driver when they were captured by Taliban insurgents in Helmand Province on March 4. The Afghan driver was beheaded by the group of insurgents, and Mr. Mastrogiacomo was released after President Hamid Karzai agreed to free five Taliban prisoners in exchange for him.
The exchange has been widely criticized, and Mr. Karzai said Friday that he agreed to free the Taliban members after the Italian prime minister, Romano Prodi, had warned that his government, which has 1,800 soldiers in Afghanistan, could collapse over the issue. Mr. Karzai said there would be no more deals with kidnappers. The Taliban spokesman said they had demanded that two more prisoners be released in return for Mr. Naqshbandi, “but the government did not care.”