Taliban released 27 peace activists

In Afghanistan, Taliban released 27 peace activists yesterday, a day after they were abducted in an ambush on their convoy in western part of the country. Bismillah Watandost, a leader of People's Peace Movement of Afghanistan said, phone lines were down in the region, making communication difficult and the reason for the activists' abduction was still unclear. 

The insurgents ambushed the group in the district of Bala Buluk in Farah province on Tuesday. They forced the six-vehicle convoy of



activists to a halt and drove the activists to an unknown location. The convoy was going village to village to rally for peace in the war-torn country. A provincial police operation was launched to locate and free the activists. 

Also, tribal elders in the area began an effort to secure the safe release of the activists. However, efforts were hampered by a lack of communications infrastructure in the area and it wasn't clear who facilitated their release.