Taliban kidnap demining team in east Afghanistan

An Afghan demining organization says the Taliban are holding eight of its workers after kidnapping a group of 16 in eastern Afghanistan.

An Afghan demining organization says the Taliban are holding eight of its workers after kidnapping a group of 16 in eastern Afghanistan.

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Fazel Wahab, from the OMAR humanitarian group working to find and dismantle homemade bombs, said militants attacked the 16-member team on Wednesday morning near the Torkham border crossing in Nangarhar province.

He says the militants also set fire to two of the group's vehicles.

Wahab says several hours later, the Taliban released eight of his colleagues, who contacted the organization to report that they had been freed.

Gen. Aminullah Amerkhail, border police commander for eastern Afghanistan, and Hazrat Mohammad, a spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial police chief, also confirmed the kidnapping.