Police Raid Frees Kabul Hostage

Kidnappers call themselves 'a special network,' police say they are not Taliban

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 19, 2007 6:49 PM CDT

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Police Raid Frees Kabul Hostage — Policemen investigate outside the restaurant where a German woman was kidnapped in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday Aug. 18, 2007. Four armed assailants abducted a German woman from the restaurant in western Kabul, prompting police to shoot at the speeding getaway car, killing a taxi driver who was nearby,... (Associated Press)

Afghan police stormed a secret location in Kabul today and freed a German aid worker held by kidnappers this weekend, CNN reports. Her abductors had circulated a video of her asking for the release of unknown prisoners and pleading for her own freedom. The captors said only that they are “a special network” and “not bad people;" police claim that the Taliban was not behind the abduction.

But Taliban abductions have increased fears for foreign workers in Afghanistan over the last month. After killing a pair of the 23 South Korean workers under their control, the Taliban now say they will resume broken negotiations if their prisoners are released. Violence has surged of late throughout Afghanistan, where reporters tally that 3,700 people have died so far this year. (More Afghanistan stories.)

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