Kabul, May 8: Efforts are under way to rescue the five Indian engineers who have been abducted in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province, the Afghan government said on Monday.
Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani spoke to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj over telephone and assured her that security forces are trying to release the abducted Indians from grip of kidnappers and ensure their security, the official Bakhtar news agency said.
Baghlan Governor Abdul Hai Niamati also said security forces were trying to secure the release of the abducted Indians and one Afghan national.
Niamati told Radio Free Afghanistan that armed groups opposed to the Afghan government were behind the kidnapping.
Zabihullah Shuja, a spokesman for the Baghlan police, said the engineers were traveling to a government-run power station in a mini bus when unknown gunmen abducted them and their Afghan driver.
The engineers worked for the Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat that operates power-generating stations.
No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Kidnapping for purposes of extortion is common in Afghanistan amid rampant poverty and rising unemployment.
Earlier in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said it was in contact with the Afghan authorities.
Efforts on to rescue kidnapped engineers, Afghan minister speaks to Sushma Swaraj
394
