Kidnapped aid workers released in Afghanistan

Five Afghan aid workers, including three employed by a Swedish agency, have been released after four days in captivity, a police official said today.

The five – two doctors and an employee of the aid agency Swedish Committee for Afghanistan and two local government workers – were kidnapped on Thursday while driving in the eastern Nuristan province, said deputy provincial police chief Ghalamullah Nuristani.

Their abductors released them late yesterday after efforts by police and tribal elders, said Mohammed Asel Totakhil, the province’s police chief.

No details were released on the kidnappers. The five aid workers had travelled to inaugurate a health clinic in a remote village and on the return trip were kidnapped in a mountainous area in the Kamdesh district, Nuristani said.

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan had no immediate comment.