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PARIS, April 28 (Reuters) - France's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday one member of an aid group who had been kidnapped in Afghanistan had been released.

The Taliban said earlier on Saturday it had released a French woman aid worker abducted early this month.

"French authorities confirm that one of the hostages, who are members of the Terre d'Enfance association, has been released this morning in Afghanistan," the ministry said.

"This release is the result of the efforts made for more than three weeks. They must continue with the same determination and the same discretion until the release of the other hostages," the ministry said in a statement.

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said the woman, identified only as Celine, was freed as a gesture of goodwill in the southern province of Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland.

Speaking to Reuters by satellite phone from a secret location, he added the deadline for the release of her male French colleague, Eric, and three Afghan workers for the Terre d'Enfance aid group had been extended by a week.

The Taliban want France to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and release Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government.

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