Kidnapped foreign aid workers freed in Bamyan

BAMYAN CITY (PAN): Two kidnapped foreign aid workers of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) have been released in central Bamyan province, a police official said on Friday.

The pair — a Canadian woman and a Pakistani man — had travelled from Kabul to the Band-i-Amir dam in Bamyan, where they were seized from their vehicles near the provincial capital late on Tuesday.

Bamyan police chief Brig. Gen. Abdur Razzaq Ilkhani told Pajhwok Afghan News four suspects had been detained in connection with the kidnapping as a result of an overnight rescue operation by security forces.

He said security personnel blocked all roads leading to the Dasht-i-Ghajoor area of Yakawlang district and Qarghanato area, where the foreign aid workers were abducted and kept, were blocked before the operation.

Despite having accurate information regarding the captors’ whereabouts, law-enforcement thrice delayed the operation, with a view to ensuring the pair’s safe release, the police chief added.

Band-e-Amir dam is Afghanistan‘s national park and a recreational site that has long been a major draw for foreign tourists.

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