GHAZNI, Sept 28: Afghan negotiators worked on Friday to secure the release of four Red Cross workers, two of them foreigners, who were captured during a mission to free a German kidnapped by Taliban.

Contact had been made with the group that seized the men on Wednesday in Wardak, said the governor of Sayed Abad district. “We are in contact with the kidnappers via tribal elders and influentials,” said Governor Anayatullah Mangal.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the movement was getting in touch with all its allies in Wardak to see if any were involved. “The Red Cross has a good background in Afghanistan and we must cooperate with them. They must not be harmed by any side of the conflict,” he said. Mr Mangal said the Red Cross had asked authorities to refrain from military action.

Besides the two Afghans, one of the men was from Myanmar and another from Macedonia.—AFP