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| Afghanistan |
| Captive De-miners Released in Afghan East |
| 2009-07-07 |
| [Quqnoos] Sixteen kidnapped de-miners were released Sunday night in Pakia province, Afghan Interior Ministry said. The Interior Ministry in a statement said police forces blocked all the routes out of the province in an extensive operation, launched late Saturday. "The operation prevented any possible chance for the kidnappers to smuggle the captive de-miners out of Paktia," the statement notes. Local people and tribal elders supported the police operation to find out the de-miners who spent two nights in captivity, according to the MoI statement. The kidnappers have not been arrested yet, the statement further said. No one claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed their involvement in the abduction. The mine clearers, employed by the Mine Detection and Dog Centre (MDC), were seized by ten armed men on Saturday as they were clearing mines in a remote district of Pakia. MDC mine-clearance organisation is affiliated to the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre of Afghanistan (MACCA). Twenty-two employees of the MDC, which has 1,800 staff working across the country, have been killed since 2001, mainly in areas where the Taliban still have influence. |
| Posted by:Fred |