KABUL, Sept 9 (Reuters) - NATO troops released a kidnapped New York Times reporter in Northern Afghanistan in a raid before dawn on Wednesday, after he had been held for four days, an Afghan district chief said.

Reporter Stephen Farrell, who is British, was abducted on Saturday along with his Afghan interpreter while attempting to visit the scene of a NATO air strike.

Abdul Waheed Omarkheil, district chief of Char Dara district in Kunduz province, said Farrell had been released in a pre-dawn raid by NATO troops. The district chief had no information about the fate of the interpreter.

(For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/afghanistanpakistan)

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