Kidnapped Red Cross staff released in Afghanistan after seven months

Two Red Cross staff members kidnapped early this year in Afghanistan have been released, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.

The two were abducted on February 8 while delivering assistance in Jawzjan province, in the north of the country, on the border with Turkmenistan.

At least six of their colleagues were killed in the attack, which prompted the ICRC to suspend operations in Afghanistan for a time.

"We are relieved and grateful that our colleagues are now back with us unharmed," head of ICRC’s Afghan delegation Monica Zanarelli said in a statement.

At the time of the attack, officials in the area blamed Daesh gunmen but the ICRC said it would not comment on the identity of the abductors, their motives or details of the release.

Kidnapping has been a major problem in Afghanistan for many years. Most victims are Afghans abducted for ransom but foreigners or Afghans working for foreign organisations have also been targeted.

The ICRC has been attacked in Afghanistan previously.

On May 29, 2013, insurgents attacked the ICRC in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, killing an Afghan guard.

At least seven staff members, believed to be the total number of foreign workers at the ICRC in Jalalabad, were rescued by Afghan police during the attack.

The attack involved a suicide bomber and three gunmen, an Afghanistan interior ministry spokesman said.