Taliban insurgents seized eight Turkish nationals and an Afghan pilot 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. The aircraft landed in Logar because of equipment malfunction, said Din Mohammad Darwesh, the spokesman for the Logar province's governor. The Taliban insurgents immediately surrounded the chopper and took the nine occupants hostage. Local officials enlisted the help of tribal elders to secure their release, Darwesh was quoted as saying by CNN.
