Thirty-one deminers were kidnapped last Wednesday instead of the 28 police earlier reported, said Naqibullah Shafee, a spokesman for the governor of western Farah province. He said that four of them had been beheaded at the weekend, instead of the seven the provincial police chief had said.
The remaining 27 men, working for the Demining Agency for Afghanistan (DAFA), a local charity based in the southern province of Kandahar, were released after mediation with tribal elders and officials, Shafee said. "Twenty-seven of the abducted deminers were freed today with efforts of tribal elders and government officials and they went home today," he told express news.
The group was snatched in Farah's most troubled district, which is the focus of the Taliban insurgency in the province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the abduction, but criminal groups and insurgents have repeatedly kidnapped dozens of Afghans and foreigners since a 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime.
Most are eventually freed for ransom or in exchange for prisoners' release. In a similar incident last December, 18 Afghans working for the Mine Detection Center were kidnapped in the eastern province of Khost, which borders Pakistan. They were freed unharmed one day later in a joint operation by Afghan and foreign troops.
