KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan security forces killed a Taliban commander they alleged yesterday to be behind the July kidnappings of 23 South Korean church workers. The Taliban denied the dead man was one of their militants.

Up to 27 other insurgents were also slain, officials said.

The Taliban commander, named as Mullah Mateen, was among 16 militants killed in fighting late Monday and early yesterday in Ghazni province, where the South Koreans were abducted and all but four of them freed last week, Ghazni’s deputy governor, Kazim Allayar, and a senior police officer said. Two male hostages were killed, and two others, both female, were released last month.

The two women freed early spoke yesterday of their 26-day captivity, appearing at a news conference south of Seoul wearing hospital gowns. The hostages were separated into groups and moved more than a dozen times during the ordeal. One of the women, Kim Kyung-ja, mentioned how some Taliban, wearing masks, carried machine guns and a video camera. “I’m still scared of cameras,” she told the press conference, which included photographers. The gathering yesterday ended abruptly when a pale-looking Kim Kyungja called for a doctor.

The Taliban agreed to free the hostages during direct talks with South Korean government representatives that were widely seen as giving political legitimacy to the insurgent movement at a time of surging violence in the country.

South Korea was forced to publicly reiterate a long-standing commitment to withdraw its 200 troops from the country by year’s end and promise to prevent Christian missionaries from traveling to the country.

Ghazni has seen several military operations since the release of the hostages, possibly reflecting a desire by the central government to stamp its authority on the rebellious region following the abductions. Mr. Allayar said Mateen played a key role in the kidnapping, including telephone negotiations with the government. He said another Taliban leader wanted over the kidnappings, Mullah Abdullah Jan, remained at large. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said seven insurgents were killed in the clash, all of them ordinary fighters. He said the Taliban had no commander called Mullah Mateen, and said he did not know to whom the government was referring. In the past, Afghan authorities have claimed to have killed local Taliban commanders that turned out to be false. Taliban spokesman have also downplayed or lied about the extent of their battlefield losses.

Earlier, the coalition said in a statement its troops, along with Afghan forces, killed “several” militants overnight in the same part of Ghazni where Mr. Allayer said Mateen and 15 others were killed.