Foreign hostages in Afghanistan
Open-knowledge reference entry
Kidnapping and hostage taking has become a common occurrence in Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Kidnappers include Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters and common criminal elements.
The following is a list of known foreign hostages in Afghanistan.
Australia
Released (3)
Diana Thomas and Peter Bunch, arrested by the Taliban in August 2001 in connection with her work for Christian aid organization Shelter Now, held in captivity until November 15, 2001.
Timothy John Weeks, a professor, was kidnapped along with American professor Kevin King by the Taliban on August 7, 2016, while traveling in Kabul. Their driver and bodyguard were not taken. Weeks was released by the Taliban along with King in November 2019 as part of a prisoner swap.
Bangladesh
Released (8)
Noor Islam, an aid worker for the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, was kidnapped on September 15, 2007, in Lowgar Province. On December 8, 2007, he was freed by the abductors.
Seven employees of the Samwhan Corporation were kidnapped by the Taliban near Mazar-i-Sharif on December 17, 2010.
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This entry incorporates text from “Foreign hostages in Afghanistan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.