8 Released

• Noor Islam, an aid worker for the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, was kidnapped on September 15, 2007, in Lowgar Province
  Lowgar Province
  Logar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.The word of Logar is built from two Pashto words: Loy and Ghar . It is located in the eastern zone, southeast of Kabul, and the geography of the province centers on the large Logar River which enters the province through the west and leaves to the...
  
  . On December 8, 2007, he was freed by the abductors.
• Eight employees of the Samwhan Corporation were kidnapped by the Taliban near Mazar-i-Sharif on Dec. 17, 2010. Two were released on Dec. 19. The other five -- Imam Uddin, Mahbub Ali, Aminul Islam, "Lablu" and Mojibur Rahman -- were released on August 2, 2011

1 Released

• A Red Cross worker was kidnapped by Taliban along with two Afghans and a Macedonian citizen in Wardak Province on September 26, 2007, while working to secure the release of the German hostage Rudolf Blechschmidt. They were freed on September 29, 2007.

1 Released

• Mellissa Fung
  Mellissa Fung
  Mellissa Fung is a Canadian journalist with CBC News, appearing regularly as a field correspondent on The National.- Education and career :...
  
  , a CBC journalist, was kidnapped by armed men from a refugee camp outside of Kabul on October 12, 2008. Her translator and driver were not taken. Fung was released on November 8, 2008.

1 Released

• Eng. Sink, a worker for a Chinese road building firm was kidnapped along with his Afghan driver, Lala Gan, by unknown militants on June 29, 2008, while driving towards his company's camp in Wardak Province
  Wardak Province
  Maidan Wardak Province is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar...
  
  . Gan was freed two days later. The Chinese hostage was freed on July 27, 2008.

1 Released

• Nagieb Kahja, a Danish-Afghan journalist, was kidnapped in Kunar Province
  Kunar Province
  Kunar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. It is one of the four "N2KL" provinces...
  
   by Taliban on July 25, 2007. One the same day Nagieb Kahja was freed after few hours in captivity.

8 Released

• Eric Damfreville and Céline Cordelier, workers for Terre d'Enfance, were kidnapped with three Afghan aid workers on April 3, 2007 in Nimruz Province
  Nimruz Province
  Nimruz is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the south-west of the country on the borders of Iran and Pakistan. The name Nimruz means "mid-day" or "half-day" in Persian. Nimruz covers 41,000 km² and has a population of 149,000...
  
  . Cordelier was released on April 28, 2007, Damfreville was released on May 11, 2007 and the three aid workers were released on May 21, 2007.
• Johan Freckhaus, a businessman, was abducted in the Gailan District of Ghazni Province
  Ghazni Province
  Ghazni is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Babur records in his Babur-Nama that Ghazni is also known as Zabulistan It is in the east of the country. Its capital is Ghazni City...
  
   on May 29, 2008. He was released safely along with two Afghan colleagues on June 19, 2008.
• Two employees of the French aid organisation Action Contre La Faim (ACF) were taken hostage by gunmen on July 18, 2008. They were freed on August 1, 2008.
• Dany Egreteau, an education specialist who worked for the non-governmental organisation Solidarité Laïque, was kidnapped by the Taliban in Kabul on November 3, 2008. Another Frenchman managed to escape. An Afghan man who tried to stop the abduction was shot dead. Egreteau was released on December 3, 2008.
• Stephane Taponier and Herve Ghesquiere, journalists for France 3
  France 3
  France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
  
  , were taken hostage along with their translator, editorial fixer and driver by the Taliban in Afghanistan on December 30, 2009. They were the longest held foreign hostages in Afghanistan when they were freed along with their translator on June 29, 2011. Their driver and editorial fixer were freed weeks earlier.

4 Released

• Norbert W., an engineer of a U.S. construction company, was kidnapped along with his Afghan translator by criminals on June 28, 2007, in Farah Province
  Farah Province
  Farah is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Farah. Farah is a spacious and sparsely populated province that lies on the Iranian border...
  
  . After a $40,000 ransom was paid, they were released one week later, on July 5, 2007.
• Christina Meier, an aid worker for ora international, was kidnapped in Kabul on August 18, 2007, and appeared on a video the next day calling for the release of prisoners. Christina was freed on August 19, 2007 after Norwegian special forces helped Afghan National Police
  Afghan National Police
  The Afghan National Police - ANP - is the primary national police force in Afghanistan. It serves as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The Afghan police force was first created with the establishment of the Afghan nation in the early 18th century...
  
   in storming the kidnappers' hiding place in Kabul.
• Rudolf Blechschmidt, an engineer, was kidnapped by the group of Taliban warlord Mullah Nissam Udin on July 18, 2007, along with his colleague Ruediger Diedrich and six Afghans in Wardak Province
  Wardak Province
  Maidan Wardak Province is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar...
  
  . One of the Afghans was eventually allowed to "escape" after his family paid a ransom. Diedrich was later killed. Blechschmidt was released on September 26, 2007, but was recaptured shortly thereafter. Rudolf and the other five Afghans were finally released on October 10, 2007, after Germany had paid a $600,000 ransom and the Afghan government had released five Taliban prisoners.
• Hadschi Asisullah, a German-Afghan businessman, was kidnapped in Kabul on July 25, 2008. He was freed by Afghan intelligence agents in Parwan Province on August 7, 2008. Three abductors were arrested.

2 Killed

• Ruediger Diedrich, an engineer, was kidnapped by the group of Taliban warlord Mullah Nissam Udin on July 18, 2007, along with his colleague Rudolf Blechschmidt in Wardak Province
  Wardak Province
  Maidan Wardak Province is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar...
  
  . Diedrich was found dead of gunshot wounds on July 21, 2007.
• Harald Kleber, who worked for Gruenhelme, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Herat Province
  Herat Province
  Herat is one the 34 provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the South-western region of the country...
  
   on December 16, 2007. On March 14, 2008, it was reported that the abductors demanded $50,000 dollars ransom for his release. The abductors had initially demanded $100,000 dollars for his release but decreased the amount. Kleber was killed sometime after that because the ransom they demanded was not paid.

3 Released

• Pemmasani Murali and Gonem Varadaiah, construction workers for B. Seenaiah & Company, were kidnapped by gunmen on December 6, 2003. They were released on December 24, 2003.
• Sarang Mohammad Naeem, working for a Dubai-based company, was kidnapped along with his Nepali colleague and their Afghan driver on April 21, 2008, in Herat Province
  Herat Province
  Herat is one the 34 provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the South-western region of the country...
  
  . The driver was later released. Naeem and his colleague were freed on May 18, 2008.

2 Killed

• Maniappan Raman Kutty, an engineer working for Border Road Organisation, was kidnapped with his Afghan driver and two Afghan bodyguards on November 19, 2005. The driver and two bodyguards were later released but Maniappan was found nearly decapitated on November 23, 2005.
• Kasula Suryanarayana, a telecommunications worker for Al-Moayed, was kidnapped along with his driver on April 28, 2006. The driver was later released but Kasula was found beheaded on April 30, 2006.

1 Released

• Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
  Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
  Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is an Iraqi journalist who began working after the U.S. invasion and has written for The Guardian and Washington Post and published photographs in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Times , and other media outlets...
  
  , on assignment for The Guardian
  The Guardian
  The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
  
  , was kidnapped on December 10, 2009 along with two Afghan journalists. All three were released on December 16.

12 released

• Twelve engineers were abducted along with three Afghans in Farah Province near the border with Iran. They were released three days later

3 Released

• Clementina Cantoni, a worker for CARE International, was kidnapped in Kabul on May 16, 2005, apparently by a criminal gang. Her driver was not taken. Cantoni was released on June 9, 2005.
• Gabriele Torsello
  Gabriele Torsello
  Gabriele Torsello is an Italian freelance journalist and photojournalist based in London who was abducted in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on 12 October 2006. Torsello, a Muslim convert, was released on 3 November 2006. He is author of The Heart of Kashmir.-Kidnapping:Torsello was abducted in...
  
  , a freelance journalist, was kidnapped in Helmand Province
  Helmand Province
  Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....
  
   on October 12, 2006. His translator was not taken. Torsello was released on November 3, 2006.
• Daniele Mastrogiacomo
  Daniele Mastrogiacomo
  Daniele Mastrogiacomo is an Italian-Swiss journalist and a war correspondent for la Repubblica newspaper....
  
  , a journalist, was kidnapped on March 5, 2007, along with his translator, Ajmal Naqshbandi, and driver, Sayed Agha. Naqshbandi and Agha were later beheaded. Mastrogiacomo was released on March 19, 2007 in exchange for five Taliban commanders.

3 Killed

• Jun Fukusho and Shinobu Hasegawa, two teachers who wanted to go sightseeing in Afghanistan, went missing after entering the country on August 8, 2005. They were found dead on September 1, 2005.
• Kazuya Ito, 31, and his Afghan driver-translator were abducted on August 26, 2008, as he was on his way to inspect an irrigation project in the area. The driver-translator was later released. Ito's body was found on August 27, 2008. .

1 Released

• Kosuke Tsuneoka, journalist, was kidnapped in the northern city of Kunduz between March 31 and April 2, 2010. His captors demanded a ransom. He was released September 5, 2010.

4 Killed

• Fadil Zenuni, Lulzam Fidani, Besim Aliu and Sabid Tahiri, employees of Ecolog, were kidnapped along with four Afghans on March 11, 2006. The four Afghans were later released but the four Macedonians were found dead on March 20, 2006.

1 Released

• A Red Cross worker was kidnapped by Taliban along with two Afghans and a Burmese citizen in Wardak Province on September 26, 2007, while working to secure the release of the German hostage Rudolf Blechschmidt. They were freed on September 29, 2007.

1 Released

• Karna Bahudur Gurung, working for a Dubai-based company, was along with his Indian colleague and their driver on April 21, 2008, in Herat Province
  Herat Province
  Herat is one the 34 provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the South-western region of the country...
  
  . The driver was later freed. Gurung and his colleague were freed on May 18, 2008.

2 Released

• Joanie de Rijke, a journalist, was kidnapped by the Taliban on November 1, 2008. She was released on November 7, 2008.
• Peter Oosterhuis was kidnapped along with his driver in the Khan Abad district on October 25, 2010. They were released on December 2, 2010.

1 Released

• Journalist Paal Refsdal and his interpreter were abducted on November 5, 2009 near the Pakistani border. Both were freed on the night of November 11, 2009.

1 Released

• Tariq Azizuddin
  Tariq Azizuddin
  Tariq Azizuddin is Pakistan's ambassador to Turkey. He was ambassador to Afghanistan when he was taken hostage by terrorists from the Tehrik-i-Taliban on Monday February 11, 2008....
  
  , Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, was kidnapped by the Taliban along with his driver, Gul Nawaz, and bodyguard, Amir Sultan, on February 11, 2008, in the border area between the two countries, en route to the Afghan capital, Kabul. They were freed in a prisoner exchange on May 15, 2008.

1 Released

• Angelito Nayan, a diplomat working for the U.N., was kidnapped with two other workers on October 30, 2004. He was freed on November 23, 2004.

1 Released

• Shqipe Habibi, an U.N. worker from Kosovo
  Kosovo
  Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
  
  , was kidnapped on October 30, 2004, with two other workers. Habibi was freed on November 23, 2004.

2 Killed and 23 Released

• 23 Christian aid workers, 16 women and seven men, were kidnapped by Taliban on on July 19, 2007. Two male hostages were killed. The other captives were freed on August 30, 2007. See 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan
  2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan
  The 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan began on July 19, 2007, when 23 South Korean missionaries were captured and held hostage by members of the Taliban while passing through Ghazni Province of Afghanistan. Two male hostages were executed before the deal was reached between the...
  
  .
• Two construction workers, along with their local driver and two bodyguards, were kidnapped in Samangan province
  Samangan Province
  Samangan is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The province covers and has a population of approximately 313,211, as of 2006.Its capital, Samangan, is known for its ancient ruins including, notably, the Takht e Rostam...
  
   on Dec. 13, 2010. They were later freed by local police.

7 Released

• Hassan Onal, an engineer working on a highway, was kidnapped along with his driver by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan on October 30, 2003. The driver was freed a day later. Hassan was released on November 30, 2003.
• Gokhan Gul and Erhan Gunduz, two engineers working at a construction project, were kidnapped along with their driver by a group of gunmen in Herat Province
  Herat Province
  Herat is one the 34 provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the South-western region of the country...
  
   on July 14, 2008. They were released on July 20, 2008.
• Four engineers were kidnapped along with their driver in Paktia province on Dec. 26, 2010. The driver was released a few days later. The engineers were released on September 04, 2011.

1 Rescued

• Stephen Farrell, reporter for The New York Times
  The New York Times
  The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
  
  , was kidnapped along with his Afghan interpreter, Sultan Manadi, by the Taliban while visiting the site of a deadly NATO airstrike in northern Afghanistan on September 5, 2009. His driver managed to escape. Farrell was the second NY Times reporter to be kidnapped by the Taliban. Farrell was rescued by British commandos on September 9, 2009. Manadi was killed during the rescue effort.

2 Killed

• David John Addison, a security contractor, was kidnapped by the Taliban in western Afghanistan on August 31, 2005. His body was found on September 3, 2005.
• Linda Norgrove, an aid worker for the aid group Development Alternatives Inc was kidnapped along with three Afghan colleagues by the Taliban on Sept. 26, 2010 in Kunar Province. The three Afghans were released on October 3, 2010. Norgrove was killed by friendly fire during a rescue attempt on October 8, 2010.

2 Released

• Sean Langan
  Sean Langan
  Sean Langan is a British journalist and documentary film-maker. Langan works in dangerous and volatile situations; including environments noted for war, conflict and civil unrest. In 2008 he was kidnapped along with his translator while filming in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region...
  
  , a journalist for Channel 4
  Channel 4
  Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
  
  , was kidnapped along with his translator by the Taliban on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan on March 22, 2008. They were released on June 21, 2008.
• Annetta Flanigan, a U.N. worker, was kidnapped with two other U.N. workers on October 30, 2004, by Taliban militants. She was freed with the others on November 23, 2004.

1 Killed

• Cydney Mizell, an aid worker, was kidnapped along with her Afghan driver Muhammad Hadi on January 26, 2008, in a residential neighborhood of Kandahar
  Kandahar
  Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
  
  . On February 26, 2008, it was reported that the two were killed. The organization they worked for says the two are believed to be dead.

1 Rescued

• An American, working for the Army Corps of Engineers, was abducted in mid-August by the Taliban. He was rescued on October 22, 2008, by U.S. special forces soldiers conducting a nighttime operation.

1 Escaped

• David Stephenson Rohde
  David S. Rohde
  David Stephenson Rohde is an American author and investigative journalist for Thomson Reuters. While a reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, he won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1996 for his coverage of the Srebrenica massacre. From July 2002 until December 2004, he was...
  
  , reporter for The New York Times
  The New York Times
  The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
  
  , was kidnapped by the Taliban outside Kabul on November 10, 2008 along with his translator, Tahir Ludin, and their driver, Asadullah Mangal. He and Ludin managed to escape on June 19, 2009 after seven months in captivity by climbing over the wall of the compound where they were being held in the North Waziristan
  North Waziristan
  North Waziristan is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Tochi river to the north and the Gomal river to the south, forming part of Pakistan's...
  
   region of Pakistan. Mangal was left behind but he managed to escape on July 27, 2009.

See also

• Foreign hostages in Iraq
  Foreign hostages in Iraq
  Table of contentsKey: Beginning in April 2004, members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign civilian hostages in Iraq. Since then, they have kidnapped more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis; among them, dozens of foreign hostages have been killed. Nepal and the United States ...
  
  
• Foreign hostages in Nigeria
  Foreign hostages in Nigeria
  Since 2006, militant groups in Nigeria's Niger Delta, especially the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta , have resorted to taking foreign employees of oil companies hostage as part of the conflict in the Niger Delta. More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since 2006, though most...
  
  
• Foreign hostages in Somalia
  Foreign hostages in Somalia
  Kidnapping and hostage taking has become a common occurrence in Somalia since 2008, while the country is still facing civil war Kidnapping and hostage taking has become a common occurrence in Somalia since 2008, while the country is still facing civil war Kidnapping and hostage taking has become a...