SHIBERGHAN (Pajhwok): Four employees of a private telecom company, who were abducted by militants in northwestern Jawzjan province last week, have been released as a result of mediation by local elders, an official said on Sunday.
Jawzjan GovernorMohammad Reza Ghafoori told Pajhwok Afghan News that the MTN workers had been kidnapped by a local Taliban commander named Qari Hekmat on the Qosh Tepa-Shiberghan highway on July 18.
“These four men are now in the Mahasin Safidan area of Darzab district; they would be transferred soon to Shiberghan, the capital of Jawzjan,” he said.
On the other hand, Ghafoori said another Taliban commander, Qari Sadr had been killed along with four accomplices in a retaliatory attack by security forces in Pir Gharib area on Saturday night.
“Qari Sadr was a close associate of Qari Hekmat and a key member of the Taliban movement,” he said, adding security forces suffered no casualties in the clash.
But Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said he was unaware of the clash in Pir Gharib area.
mds/mud
