Kidnapped Indian, Nepalese freed in Afghanistan

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan security forces freed two kidnapped road workers from India and Nepal in a raid on Sunday, officials said.

The pair, employees of a road project, were seized from a vehicle while travelling on a highway on April 21 in the western province of Herat, which borders Iran.

"The security forces freed them from the kidnappers in an operation," Habib Habib, the head of intelligence department in Herat, told reporters.

He said the two were recovered from a cave in Herat's Shindand district where the Taliban and criminal gangs are active.

Another official said the former hostages were in good health and did not rule out a ransom payment. A criminal gang was behind the kidnapping rather than Taliban militants.