(Adds Taliban statement)

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL, April 5 (Reuters) - Taliban guerrillas said on Thursday they had kidnapped two French aid workers and three Afghan guides in Afghanistan's desolate southwest.

The French man and woman, who work for a French aid agency, went missing with their local driver and two others in an area of Nimroz province where there has been a rash of Taliban attacks.

In an Arabic-language statement posted on the Internet, the Taliban said: "The mujahideen of the Islamic state detained on Wednesday, April 4, 2007, two French nationals -- a man called Eric and a woman called Salma with three Afghans."

"The captives will be dealt with in line with the decision of the leadership council," it said without elaboration.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. It it was posted on a Web site used by militant groups including al Qaeda.

Earlier Nimroz governor Ghulam Dastgir Azad told Reuters the Taliban had not contacted Afghan authorities and he did not know the motive for the abductions. About 200 police were searching for the five.

"We have doubled our efforts to find them," Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.

In Paris, Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said on Wednesday two French nationals working for Terre d'Enfance had been reported missing.

Terre d'Enfance focuses on education and other projects for children in Nimroz, a thinly populated desert region wedged between Iran and Helmand, the southern province that produces most of Afghanistan's opium.

MAJOR OFFENSIVE, NEW PLANES

The aid party's disappearance follows the Taliban's kidnapping of a journalist for the Italian daily La Repubblica in Helmand last month.

The Afghan government, under diplomatic pressure from Italy, secured Daniele Mastrogiacomo's release after two weeks by freeing five Taliban officials, after his driver was beheaded.

His translator remains a hostage. The Taliban insist more of their colleagues be released in return for freeing him.

Security officials have said the Mastrogiacomo deal risked encouraging more kidnappings of Westerners.

Last week the Islamist militants kidnapped five government health officials in the south and offered to free them in exchange for Taliban prisoners.

NATO is running a major anti-insurgent operation in Helmand and Taliban suicide bombings are increasing.

NATO said on Thursday it had airlifted hundreds of troops into the Sangin Valley in northern Helmand overnight as part of its Operation Achilles, which began a month ago.

A Taliban weapons cache was discovered and destroyed, NATO said in a statement. It gave no details of any fighting by the 5,000 foreign and Afghan troops that have engaged Taliban fighters more than 200 times in the offensive.

Last year was the bloodiest since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 and many security analysts expect this year to be worse.

Six German reconnaissance planes have arrived in the north of the country. The Tornado jets will be used for aerial surveillance for military operations and for disaster relief. (Additional reporting by Tahir Qadiry in Mazar-i-Sharif)

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