Taliban insurgents seized an Afghan
pilot and nine foreign nationals from a transport helicopter after it was
forced to make an emergency landing late Sunday night in eastern Afghanistan,
authorities said.
The private helicopter, that was used
to carry food and other items for the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF), was headed to Kabul from a NATO base in Khost province
when it was forced to land in Azra district in neighboring Logar province, said
the district's governor, Hamidullah Hamid.
On board were seven Turkish engineers
and three pilots: an Afghan and two Russians. Because it's not always safe to
travel by road in areas with heavy militant activity, engineers and others will
often hitch rides in helicopters delivering supplies.
The aircraft landed in Logar because of
equipment malfunction, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the spokesman for the Logar
province's governor.2012: Declining state of Afghan war
The Taliban immediately surrounded the
chopper and took the nine occupants hostage.
Local officials enlisted the help of
tribal elders to secure their release, Darwesh said.
The Taliban, in a text message to news
outlets, said the group forced the helicopter down.
John Manley, an ISAF spokesman, would
only say that a civilian aircraft went down in eastern Afghanistan and that the
alliance was "assisting."
The Turkish foreign ministry said it
could not confirm the involvement of the Taliban or whether several of its
citizens had been taken hostage. It said it was looking into the reports and
will have more information later Monday.
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