5 deminers rescued from captors in Herat

HERAT CITY (PAN): Five workers of a mine-clearing organisation have been rescued from their captors in western Herat province, a security official said on Monday.

The Halo Trust staffers were kidnapped on their way to work in the Ahmadabad area of Kohsan district on Sunday, an incident that prompted a rescue operation by police.

Police spokesman Col. Abdur Rauf Ahmadi told Pajhwok Afghan News the workers were recovered within an hour as a result of the rescue operation. The deputy police chief is investigating the incident.

A district police officer, meanwhile, revealed the rescued workers included two women. He accused security guards of the British NGO of conniving at the kidnappings, saying a vehicle was still in captors’ possession.

Col. Ahmadi, who also confirmed the released deminers included two women, cited ransom as the motive behind the abduction.

mud