Copyright 2009, The Washington Post KABUL, Afghanistan -- A kidnapped British journalist working for the New York Times was rescued from Taliban captivity Tuesday night, but his Afghan translator was shot dead during a brief and chaotic gun battle with insurgents. New York Times and Afghan security officials confirmed that Stephen Farrell, 46, was rescued unharmed when British special forces staged a helicopter gunship raid on a mud compound in a northern Afghan village where he and the translator, Sultan Munadi, were being held. Taliban fighters seized Farrell and Munadi Saturday as they visited the site of a NATO bombing in northern Kunduz province that, a day earlier, had killed at least 70 insurgents and villagers. Sources with detailed knowledge of the rescue said that Munadi was shot and killed as he, along with Farrell, tried to run toward the British forces after they landed on the compound roof and engaged Taliban forces with heavy gunfire. The forces departed with Farrell but left Munadi's body lying outside the compound, witnesses said. British military officials said one of their commandos also was killed. Some sources said a local Afghan woman died as well. Farrell was flown to the Afghan capital early Wednesday but could not be reached for comment. According to an account posted on the New York Times Web site, he telephoned his editors in New York before dawn, saying, 'I'm out! I'm free!' Farrell told the newspaper that he had been extracted by commandos after a 'fierce firefight,' and that he had been hiding in a ditch when he saw Munadi run into a hail of bullets and fall to the ground. Neither the New York Times, the Afghan government nor international officials had advance knowledge of the military assault before it was carried out, U.N. officials and other sources said. The sources said that negotiations with Taliban leaders in Kunduz had been underway for several days through local elders and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and that there had been indications that Farrell and Munadi might be released. Media outlets, including The Washington Post, had refrained from reporting on the kidnapping out of concern that publicity would further endanger the captives. On Wednesday, Afghan journalists and friends of Munadiexpressed anger at the raid, questioning why force had been used while other options were still being explored. International aid officials, human rights monitors and foreign diplomats said they were worried the incident would heighten tensions over NATO's use of military force, especially since it came shortly after the Kunduz air strike. That strike was intended to destroy two stolen fuel tankers but ended up killing scores of civilians as well as Taliban fighters at the scene. The airstrike is under investigation. At the same time, Afghanistan's government is facing turmoil over the recent presidential elections, the results of which have been called into question because of widespread evidence of fraud. Although officials and journalists here expressed relief that Farrell had been rescued, there was also concern that the shooting death of Munadi, possibly at British hands, would exacerbate popular belief that international forces are more concerned about the safety of Westerners than Afghans. Three years ago, in a similarly controversial incident that aroused widespread public anger in Afghanistan, Italian authorities negotiated the release of a kidnapped journalist, but his Afghan translator was killed. 'This operation was carried out after extensive planning and consideration,' British prime minister Gordon Brown said in a statement. 'Those involved knew the high risks they were running. That they undertook it in such circumstances showed breathtaking heroism ... 'Hostage taking is never justified, and the UK does not make substantive concessions, including paying ransoms. But whenever British nationals are kidnapped, we and our allies will do everything in our power to free them. Munadi, 34, had worked with the New York Times since 2001, helping to cover the fall of the Taliban and the progress of postwar Afghanistan. He left Afghanistan last year to study in a master's degree program in Germany, but returned to Kabul on vacation in August and was rehired temporarily to help Times reporters cover the Afghan presidential elections. His wife and two young children live in Kabul. In a Sept. 2 blog posting on the Times Web site, Munadi described how much he missed his homeland while studying in Europe, and how committed he was to coming back and working as an educator. 'I would not leave Afghanistan. I have passed the very darkest times of my country, when there was war and insecurity. ... Now I am hopeful of a better situation,' he wrote, adding, 'And if I leave this country, if other people like me leave this country, who will come to Afghanistan? Will it be the Taliban who come to govern this country? ... 'Being a journalist is not enough; it will not solve the problems of Afghanistan. I want to work for the education of the country, because the majority of people are illiterate. That is the main problem facing many Afghans.' Kai Eide, the U.N. special representative for Afghanistan, said in a statement Wednesday that he was 'greatly saddened' by news of Munadi's death and called it a 'tragic reminder' of the dangers facing journalists here. He issued an appeal for both Afghan authorities and insurgent groups to 'respect the rights of journalists to go about their work.' All day Wednesday, Afghan TV stations showed video footage of Munadi's body wrapped in a white shroud, blood stains seeping from the head. Farrell, 46, is an experienced foreign correspondent who had covered numerous conflicts for British newspapers before joining the Times two years ago. He is known as an intrepid and dogged reporter who often takes risks to track down sources and evidence for stories. His abduction and rescue came just months after another Times reporter, David Rohde, escaped unharmed in Pakistan after seven months in Taliban captivity. According to colleagues here, Farrell traveled to the Kunduz capital Friday and interviewed hospitalized survivors from the tanker bombing. Early Saturday, he set out for the bombing site along with Munadi and their driver, Abdul Jamshid. Jamshid, who ran from the scene and escaped when armed Taliban fighters appeared, said in an interview that the group had been warned by police and village elders not to visit the area. 'They told us it was very dangerous. I was scared when we got there because the villagers were angry at us,' Jamshid said Wednesday morning. 'An old man came up and told us we should leave. I grabbed Steve's arm and he said, `okay.' But two minutes later we saw Taliban coming with Kalashnikovs. People started shouting and running away, and I followed them.' Jamshid said he became separated from his colleagues in the panic, and never saw them again. He reached a local mosque, kept fleeing on foot, and finally reached the main road, where he flagged down a car and drove to Kunduz city. During the next several days, Jamshid and other New York Times staffers said, they received cell phone calls from Munadi and then from his Taliban captors, who held the two men in a mud hut. In one call, Jamshid said, Munadi told him he was with 'our brothers,' meaning the insurgents, and that they were being treated well. In another call, he said, the Taliban told him Munadi was 'asleep' and Farrell was eating. Several diplomats and other sources said there had also been a series of communications with local Taliban leaders, including a Muslim cleric named Mullah Saleem who was called the 'shadow governor' of Kunduz, and that tribal elders and relatives of Munadi were trying to negotiate the captives' release with help from the ICRC. The sources said they did not understand why the British had decided to stage the armed rescue attempt. 'We are as perplexed as anyone by this raid,' said a senior U.N. official here. 'All the indications were that Mullah Saleem was someone you could do business with, and that the ICRC was on the job. We knew where the journalists were and we knew the negotiations were going on. By barging in and attacking, they managed to tick off a lot of people at once.' Correspondent Craig Whitlock contributed to this report. 