The crew of a de-mining organization was abducted Tuesday by unknown armed men in western Afghanistan, police said. The number of victims was not yet clear, and they did not inform police of their departure, said Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, police spokesman for Herat province, according to dpa. "These people were heading from Herat city to Pashtoon Zarghoon district this morning when the armed men kidnapped them," he said. Other unconfirmed reports said they were about 50 people working for The Halo Trust. "Police subsequently started a rescue operation. We have so far rescued six of the de-miners and our search operation is going on," Ahmadi said, without providing details.
