Istanbul:
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday announced that the Taliban have freed four of eight Turkish engineers taken hostage last month in Afghanistan.
"Eight Turkish engineers were kidnapped recently in Afghanistan when their helicopter crash landed. Thanks to the efforts of MIT (Turkish intelligence), four of them were handed over to us and are safe," Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.
A Russian, a Kyrgyz and an Afghan were kidnapped along with the eight Turks on April 21 after the crash landing of their helicopter in Logar, a Taliban stronghold south of the capital Kabul.
Tribal chiefs helped to negotiate the release of the four Turks.
NATO member Turkey has around 1,850 non-combat soldiers in Afghanistan, mainly in Kabul.
"Eight Turkish engineers were kidnapped recently in Afghanistan when their helicopter crash landed. Thanks to the efforts of MIT (Turkish intelligence), four of them were handed over to us and are safe," Erdogan told a rally in Istanbul.
A Russian, a Kyrgyz and an Afghan were kidnapped along with the eight Turks on April 21 after the crash landing of their helicopter in Logar, a Taliban stronghold south of the capital Kabul.
Tribal chiefs helped to negotiate the release of the four Turks.
NATO member Turkey has around 1,850 non-combat soldiers in Afghanistan, mainly in Kabul.
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