Negotiators working through Afghan elders to secure release of 4 Red Cross workers

Four International Red Cross workers were abducted by an “armed group” on Wednesday in the province of Wardak, located outside of Kabul. Negotiation through tribal elders will be used in lieu of military action to free the four men, two of whom are foreigners, Agence France Presse reported Thursday.

Negotiators are now in contact with the kidnappers through prominent tribal elders and influential government leaders.

This incident comes on the heels of a series of abductions of foreigners working in Afghanistan. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for some of these past abductions but denies involvement in the present kidnapping.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has played a significant role in the release of hostages in the past, including the 21 South Korean Christian aid workers that were recently released.

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Bangladeshi aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan, government calls for his release

Nurul Islam, an aid worker with the Bagladesh Rural Advancement Committee, was kidnapped over the weekend by four gunmen in Afghanistan’s Logar Province, prompting the Bangladesh government to call for his immediate release today, Reuters reported.

The Taliban has declared it will only kidnap citizens from nations that have troops stationed in Afghanistan. Bangladesh does not have troops in the country.

Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, advisor to the interim Bangladeshi government, asserted that Islam’s work in Afghanistan was purely humanitarian and called for immediate release.

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