HERAT: An Indian and a Nepalese national kidnapped a month ago were set free by their captors and walked for hours to reach their base in western Afghanistan on Sunday, one of them said.

The intelligence chief of the western province of Herat said earlier that the pair, kidnapped on April 21, had been freed in an overnight operation, but this was rejected by Indian national Muhammad Naeem.

Naeem said the kidnappers had told him and his Nepalese colleague to leave late Saturday without giving any explanation.

He said they had walked eight hours to reach a police camp in Adraskan district, where they had been based before they were abducted. “Last night we started and came here,” he said. “There was no operation.” Naeem said he did not know who the kidnappers were or what their motive was.

The Indian said he and Nepali Gurong Karna Bahudur, about 55, had not been treated badly but found the conditions of their captivity difficult, including having to sleep on the floor and survive on only Afghan bread and tea.—AFP