Two bodies found in southern Afghanistan may be those of Japanese school teachers who missing in the region since early last month, an Afghan official said Friday.

The bodies were found Thursday night near the road from Kandahar to the Pakistan city of Spin Buldak, Asadullah Khalid, governor of Kandahar province told Xinhua.

"The bodies are rotten, they must died a week ago," Khalid said. "Since the bodies are a man and a women, they may be the two Japanese teachers missing in this area last month."

"The investigation is underway, we will check the bodies when they are brought to Kabul," he added.

The two teachers, Jun Fukusho, 44, and Shinobu Hasegawa, 30, entered southern Afghanistan from the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Aug. 8, and the Japanese officials have lost track of them since then.

The two teachers were on their vacation in Pakistan and they had been expected to Japan on Aug. 19.

An official from Japanese embassy told Xinhua in a telephone interview that they have no information from Afghan side so far.

Taliban militants, who kidnapped a Lebanese engineer restive southern area last month, has denied any connection with the killing of two Japanese citizens.

Source: Xinhua