Officials say the Indian contractor, who was working for the Afghan telecommunications company Roshan, was kidnapped Friday on a main road in the southern province of Zabul.

A Taleban spokesman said the Indian was healthy and that higher authorities within the Taleban would soon decide on the captive's fate.

Afghan security forces clashed Saturday with Taleban militants hiding in a cave complex in southern Helmand province, killing two of them and seizing weapons.

U.S. and Afghan opposition forces drove the Taleban from power in late 2001 after the extremist Islamic government refused to hand over Osama bin Laden.