Militants release 150 kidnapped Afghan laborers

[Coventina]

Source: Associate Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban militants on Saturday released the last of approximately 150 Afghan laborers they had abducted for almost a week after suspecting the workers of being Afghan soldiers, officials said.

Militants stopped three buses of workers constructing an Afghan army base in the western city of Farah and took the laborers hostage on Sept. 21. Government officials and tribal elders pleaded with the militants to release the men, saying they had abducted simple laborers and not soldiers.

"The Taliban had received a report that these people were going to join with Afghan army, that they are receiving training in this camp that they are building," said Abdul Qadir Daqeq, a provincial council member from Farah.

Tribal elders contacted the Taliban militants to plead the workers' case, Daqeq said. Then the Taliban took several days to question the laborers and determine whether they were soldiers, he said.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGv4cEqc-wRw_6Mt57psjGEs9lLgD93EUEA81

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A little bit of good news.

I still hate the Taliban, though.

[ohio2007]

1. They blackmailed families or government for ransom.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGv4cEqc-wRw_6Mt57psjGEs9lLgD93EUEA81
next to exporting opium, kidnapping is the biggest industry in Afghanistan.