Kabul ? Commandos freed a New York Times reporter early today from Taliban captives who kidnapped him over the weekend in northern Afghanistan, but his interpreter was killed in the raid, the paper and officials said.

Gunmen seized reporter Stephen Farrell and interpreter Sultan Munadi in the northern province of Kunduz on Saturday, the Times reported. Farrell had traveled to Kunduz to investigate reports of civilian deaths in a German-ordered NATO airstrike on two hijacked fuel tankers.

Afghan officials at the time said about 70 people died when U.S. jets dropped two bombs on the tankers, igniting them in a massive explosion. There were reports that villagers who had come to collect fuel from the tankers were among the dead, and Farrell wanted to interview villagers.

The Times kept the kidnapping quiet out of concern for the men’s safety, and other media outlets, including The Associated Press, followed suit at the Times’ request.

A story posted on the Times’ Web site quoted Farrell saying he had been “extracted” by a commando raid carried out by “a lot of soldiers” in a firefight.

Mohammad Sami Yowar, a spokesman for the Kunduz governor, said British Special Forces dropped down from helicopters early today onto the house where the two were being kept, and a gunbattle ensued.