Taliban Frees Four Turkish Engineers

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that the Taliban has freed four Turkish engineers in Afghanistan.

Speaking at a rally in Istanbul on May 12, Erdogan said that the freed individuals were among the eight Turkish engineers kidnapped recently in southeastern Afghanistan after their helicopter crashed.

"Thanks to the efforts of MIT [Turkish intelligence], four of [the engineers] were handed over to us and are safe," he said.

The Turkish nationals were on board a Russian helicopter in April when it made a "hard landing" in a remote part of Logar province because of bad weather.

They were taken hostage by the Taliban along with an Afghan and two pilots from Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters