Times Reporter, Held by Taliban, Freed in British Raid; Brit Soldier, Interpreter, Others Killed

New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell was rescued by British forces from his Taliban captors in Afghanistan this morning. Farrell had been taken by the Taliban on Saturday as he investigated an airstrike site near Kunduz. Killed in the raid were a British Special Forces soldier, Farrell's interpreter Mohammad Sultan Munadi, several Taliban forces, and an unverified number of civilians; it is not known which side shot Munadi; Farrell reports that their captors "taunted" the interpreter with the story of another interpreter who had been beheaded in a journalist's kidnapping. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown approved the raid planned by British Special Forces commanders in Kabul this weekend.