Kidnapped aid worker freed

SYDNEY: An Australian aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan in April has been released and is “safe and well”, Australia’s foreign minister said yesterday. The Australian, Kerry Jane Wilson, who was taken by two armed men from the offices of a charity in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, has been freed, Julie Bishop confirmed. “I deeply appreciate the work of the authorities in Afghanistan whose support and assistance facilitated her release,” Ms Bishop said, adding that no further details would be provided about the circumstances of the release. Kidnapping has become a lucrative source of income for militant Islamist groups in recent years, and the topic of whether to pay for their release is hotly debated.