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FACTBOX-Foreign hostages in Afghanistan
10 Oct 2007 13:19:02 GMT
Source: Reuters
Oct 10 (Reuters) - Taliban rebels have freed a German hostage in Afghanistan after more than two months of captivity, said a diplomatic source who declined to named. Germany confirmed the release.

Following are details of reported kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan since 2006.

* March 2006 - Taliban insurgents say they killed four hostages and dumped their bodies in the Kandahar-Helmand area in southern Afghanistan. The four were abducted on March 11. An official at the Ecolog services company in Kabul said the four hostages, all from Macedonia, were employees.

* April 2006 - An Indian engineer, identified as K. Suryanarayan, is found beheaded on April 30 not far from where he was kidnapped near the main road between Qalat and Ghazni. The Taliban claim responsibility.

* October 2006 - Gabriele Torsello, a London-based photojournalist who is a Muslim, is kidnapped on Oct. 12 by gunmen after he left by bus from Lashkar-Gah, capital of Helmand province in the south. He is released unharmed on Nov. 3.

* March 2007 - The Taliban capture Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo of La Repubblica and two Afghans in Helmand province. He is handed over to the Italian embassy on March 19 but his Afghan driver is beheaded and his translator is killed on April 8.

* April 2007 - The Taliban say they have kidnapped Eric Damfreville, a Frenchman, working for Terre d'Enfance aid organisation, his local driver and two other Afghans in Nimroz province. He is released on May 11. A female French hostage who also worked for Terre d'Enfance is released in late April by the Taliban after three weeks in captivity.

* July 2007 - Two German engineers are kidnapped by the Taliban while travelling in Wardak province, southwest of the capital, Kabul. One German was killed, apparently by his captors. The Taliban later said the other German was being held along with four Afghans. In October, Taliban militants allowed an interview with the German engineer, who was identified in the report as Rudolf Blechschmidt. He is freed on Oct. 10.

* July 2007 - A group of 23 South Koreans from a church organisation in Bundang, outside Seoul, are kidnapped from a bus travelling from Kabul to Kandahar. On July 25, a church pastor who was leading the group was shot dead. Five days later another male South Korean hostage was shot. Two other female captives were freed as a goodwill gesture during talks.

-- On Aug. 27 the Taliban agreed to release the hostages after South Korea agreed to meet certain conditions. The remaining hostages are all freed by Aug 30.

* Sept 2007 - Two Italian military intelligence officers kidnapped are freed during a raid by NATO-led troops in which nine kidnappers and an Afghan hostage died.

-- Taliban insurgents kidnap four members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the province of Wardak. The men, two Afghans, a Macedonian and a citizen of Myanmar are freed three days later on Sept 29.
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British Army Gurkha soldiers rest after returning fire from their forward operating base, (FOB), as it came under attack in Southern Helmand province, Afghanistan November 9, 2007. REUTERS/Steve Lewis (AFGHANISTAN)



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