Afghan tribal council member killed

A member of an Afghan tribal council was killed by militants, a day after district elders secured his release from kidnappers, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Mullah Saleh Mohammed was killed Tuesday in eastern Uruzgan province by militants who stopped the van he was traveling in by putting up a make-shift checkpoint, the military said in a statement.

The insurgents stopped the van, pulled Mohammed out and shot him on the spot, the military said, attributing the information to witnesses.

A day earlier, district elders had secured Mohammed's release from kidnappers.

Taliban violence has plagued Uruzgan in recent weeks.

Less than three weeks ago, Taliban insurgents executed a number of Afghan civilians - beheading some of them, the military said.