New Taliban commander says holy war, suicide bombs to go on until West exits Afghanistan

MANILA (AFP) - Philippine officials on Thursday confirmed that the body of a woman found in Afghanistan -- suspected murdered -- is a Filipina.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said its embassy in Pakistan had reported the woman's body had been found in Gardez, a day after her husband reported her missing.

The department did not disclose any further details.

Afghan police and intelligence agents earlier said the body of a foreign woman believed to be a Filipina had been found in a well in Gardez, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of capital Kabul, four days after she went missing.

The woman, said to have been working for a foreign company, disappeared while she was travelling to the capital, Paktia province's police chief earlier said.

Police could not say if the suspected murder was linked to the Taliban insurgency, in which militants have kidnapped and beheaded several foreigners.

The Taliban movement normally announces when it has taken foreign hostages.

Insurgency-linked violence has increased in Paktia in the past week. In Gardez, the provincial capital, a Taliban suicide attack killed 10 Afghans on Sunday.