Taliban free 3 Indians as US releases 11 militants

NEW DELHI: Three Indian hostages have been freed by the Afghan Taliban in exchange for the release of 11 members of the militant group following talks between Taliban leaders and a US special envoy, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

It is believed the three Indians were part of a group of seven engineers kidnapped from Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province in May 2018. One of the men was freed in March but the fate of the others remains unknown.

The engineers were working on power projects run by the Afghan government.

The people cited above said the three engineers had been handed over to Indian authorities. There was no official word on the development from the Afghan and Indian governments.

The swap of the three Indians for the Taliban prisoners was done early on Sunday. The Taliban prisoners were reportedly freed from Bagram airbase.

Earlier, the Afghan Taliban told RFE/RL website that the group had freed three Indian hostages in exchange for 11 Taliban members, including Sheikh

IT IS BELIEVED THE 3 INDIANS WERE PART OF A GROUP OF 7 ENGINEERS KIDNAPPED FROM AFGHANISTAN’S BAGHLAN IN MAY 2018

Abdur Rahim and Mawlawi Abdur Rashid, who served as governors of Kunar and Nimroz provinces, under the Taliban regime that was ousted in 2001.

Two Afghan Taliban officials cited by RFE/RL refused to say who the militant group exchanged the Indian hostages with, and whether the freed Taliban members were being held by Afghan or US authorities. The Afghan Taliban also released a photo of the freed Taliban members.

Reports suggested the exchange of the hostages and Taliban prisoners was the result of talks in Islamabad between a Taliban delegation and US special representative, Zalmay Khalilzad, the first contact between the two sides since peace talks between them collapsed last month.