Afghanistan: earthquake and kidnapping reported

An earthquake that occurred Dec. 16 in Afghanistan was reported by the official Soviet news agency Tass Tuesday. More than 500 people were reportedly killed and 2,970 injured.

In a separate report from Islamabad, Pakistan, Western diplomatic sources were quoted as saying up to 16 Soviet civilian advisers were kidnapped from the Afghan town of Mazar-i-Sharif by antigovernment rebels last week - the third major rebel operation reported in less than a month. Mazar-i-Sharif is capital of a north Afghanistan province bordering the Soviet Union.