|
KABUL, Afghanistan – NATO forces swooped in by helicopter before dawn Saturday torescue two female foreign aid workers and their two Afghancolleagues who were held by militants for nearly two weeks in acave in northern Afghanistan. British Prime Minister David Cameron hailed the "breathtaking"operation, which he approved Friday afternoon after becomingincreasingly concerned about the safety of the hostages, one ofwhom, 28-year-old Helen Johnston, was British. Johnston was kidnapped along with Moragwa Oirere, a 26-year-oldKenyan, and the two Afghans while visiting aid sites in Badakhshanprovince on May 22. The four work for Medair, a humanitariannon-governmental organization based near Lausanne, Switzerland. The rescue operation was carried out by British troops incooperation with other NATO and Afghan forces, Cameron toldreporters outside 10 Downing Street in London. He said it was"extraordinarily difficult" to decide to go ahead with theoperation, which involved a "long route march" without beingdiscovered. "It was an extraordinarily brave, breathtaking even, operation thatour troops had to carry out," said Cameron. "We will never be ableto publish their names but the whole country should know we have anextraordinary group of people who work for us who do amazinglybrave things." All four hostages were rescued safely, no British troops wereinjured and a number of Taliban militants and kidnappers werekilled, said Cameron. Past rescue attempts in Afghanistan have not always gone so well. In 2009, an Afghan translator kidnapped alongside a New York Timesreporter was killed in a hail of bullets during a rescue attempt byBritish commandoes. In 2010, the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team 6 tried torescue Linda Norgrove, a Scottish aid worker, from her Talibancaptors in Afghanistan. She was killed by a grenade thrown in hasteby one of the American commandoes. Afghan officials said seven militants were killed during Saturday'soperation, which was launched around 1 a.m. Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a coalition spokesman, said a helicopterrescue team reached the scene before dawn and confirmed that thehostages were there. "The kidnappers were armed with heavy machine guns,rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s," Cummings said. "They werekidnapped by an armed terrorist group with ties to the Taliban." The aid workers appeared to be in good health, but they will beevaluated before being reunited with their families, he said. Johnston's family said they were delighted and relieved by the newsthat the aid worker and her colleagues have been freed. "We are deeply grateful to everyone involved in her rescue, tothose who worked tirelessly on her behalf, and to family andfriends for their love, prayers and support over the last twelvedays," the family said in a statement. Medair spokesman Aurilien Demaurex also expressed relief that theaid workers were rescued and said the company is "immenselygrateful to all parties involved in ensuring their swift and safereturn." Shams ul-Rahman, the deputy governor of Badakhshan province, saidthe hostages were being held in Gulati, a village in Shahri Buzurgdistrict. It is a mountainous and forested area near the Tajikistanborder in extreme northern Afghanistan about 70 kilometers (44miles) from the district center. "Mostly smugglers are based in those areas, but of course thesmugglers have the support of the Taliban," Rahman said. He said Afghan elders in the area had worked to seek the release ofthe aid workers. "A group of elders was about to go to the village and startnegotiations," Rahman said. "Based on intelligence reports thatAfghan forces received, a successful operation was conducted thatresulted in the release of the hostages and the killing of thekidnappers." Also Saturday, NATO and Afghan forces detained a militant commanderwho allegedly planned and coordinated an attack on a coalition basein eastern Khost province Friday. During the operation in theprovince's Sabari district, the troops also detained several otherinsurgents and seized an AK-47 and multiple magazines ofammunition, the coalition said. Militants detonated a truck bomb outside Forward Operating BaseSalerno on Friday, then tried to storm the site, but coalitionforces repelled the attack, killing 14 militants. No foreign orAfghan troops were killed during the attack, said NATO. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, but the militantdetained Saturday was a member of the Haqqani network, thecoalition said. The Haqqani network, which is based in neighboringPakistan and eastern Afghanistan, is allied with the Taliban andal-Qaida but operates fairly independently. It is considered themost dangerous militant group in Afghanistan and has carried out aseries of high-profile attacks in the capital, Kabul. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, four Afghan policemen were killed in twoexplosions Friday evening and Saturday morning in the south. Both attacks involved bombs hidden in motorcycles that exploded aspolice vehicles were passing by in Tarin Kot, the capital ofUruzgan province, said Gulab Khan, the director of the criminalinvestigation department in the province. Each attack killed twopolicemen. Two other policemen were wounded in Saturday's blast, hesaid. ___ Associated Press writer Mirwais Khan in Kandahar, Afghanistan,contributed to this report. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as 3D wall stickers Manufacturer , kid wall stickers Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits kid wall stickers.
Related Articles -
3D wall stickers Manufacturer, kid wall stickers Manufacturer,
|
