More than 20 Afghans and foreign nationals — either Pakistanis or Arabs — were kidnapped while hunting in southwestern Afghanistan but most were freed Tuesday.
The group was abducted Saturday in the southwestern province of Farah, police and the provincial governor said, though they gave different accounts of the incident.
Governor Ghulam Mohaidun Balouch said the group consisted of 12 Pakistani nationals who had been working on a reconstruction project and their 10 Afghan guards.
They had gone hunting in the mountains of Farah, apparently for eagles, he said. "They were abducted by Taliban. But with the help of tribal elders and influentials, they were all released. Only two Pakistani nationals are not freed and we are trying to free them soon," Balouch said.
The kidnappers did not make any demands, he said.
The police spokesman for western Afghanistan, Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, said however that the group was made up of 13 Arab nationals and seven Afghans who live in Arabic countries.
The Arabs were freed Tuesday but the Afghans were still being held, Ahmadi said, blaming the kidnapping on the "opposition of the government" — a term used for Taliban and other rebels.
The group had been working on an aid project and had stopped off in Farah for a hunting trip without telling authorities, he said.
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