Tehran: Twelve Iranian engineers, constructing a road in western Afghanistan, have been arrested, Iranian and Afghan officials said on Monday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the Iranian engineers were working for a construction company in the Farah Province of Afghanistan and the incident was under investigation by Iranian and Afghan authorities.
Farah Police Chief Gen. Sayed Mohammad has said that militants in the area have claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and threatened to kill the hostages if work on the road is not stopped.
“For the time being the road construction has stopped. Police have launched a search operation in the area where they were kidnapped,” he said.
Gen. Mohammad said that according to his information, there were 13 Iranians taken along with two Afghans while driving toward their work site in two vehicles.
The director of public works for Farah, Ghulman Hazrat Shahiq, said they worked for a company called Jahidi Nasri Tehran, contracted to create 75 miles (121 kilometers) of road in the province and has completed about half.
Kidnappings — mostly of Afghans — for ransom or for political reasons are common in Afghanistan, where violence has made efforts to rebuild the country costly and dangerous.
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