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German captive released in northern Afghanistan

Kunduz - A German national kidnapped by Taliban militants in Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz has been released, police confirmed on Friday.

The German citizen, working with the development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), was abducted by the Taliban some 45 days ago while travelling in a taxi from Kunduz to the adjacent province of Balkh, according to police officials.

"Our officers saw a man coming towards our checkpoint at 01:00," said Noorullah, a police official in Char Darah district in Kunduz.

"When the officers brought him to the checkpoint, we found out that he was not speaking Dari or Pashto [the two official languages in Afghanistan]," Noorullah told dpa.

He was taken to the provincial airport where, according to the official, "German Special Forces who had come in two helicopters from their base in Mazar-e-Sharif, took him over and moved him to Mazar-e-Sharif."

Noorullah did not know why the man had been released. The German was in good health, apart from a stomach ache, he said.

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