Three Indian engineers abducted last year in Afghanistan are all set to be released soon. Seven Indians, most of them engineers working at a power station, were abducted from northern Baghlan province by the Taliban in May of 2018.
While one of them was released earlier this year, the fate of three is not known.
They were abducted in Bagh-e-Shamal village near the Pul-e-Khomri city.
The development comes days after US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met the Taliban in Pakistan. One of the demands by the American side was for the release of foreign prisoners in the Taliban custody.
A prisoner swap is now taking place, with Afghan forces releasing the 11 people associated with Taliban which includes Anas Haqqani, youngest son of Afghan leader of the Haqqani network Jalaluddin Haqqani.
A government source in Islamabad said the American side had asked the Taliban to release five foreigners in their custody which included three Indian engineers, one Australian and one American.
The seven abducted Indians were working in Indian company KEC which has its headquarters in Mumbai. The company owns an electricity sub-station contract in the area. Earlier in March of this year, one of the abducted Indian was brought back to India.
The Ministry of External Affairs had then said, "We are grateful to the Government of Afghanistan for their support in securing the release and repatriation of the Indian national."
"We continue to work closely with the Government of Afghanistan for the safe and early return of the remaining six Indian nationals," MEA added.
More than 60 Indians were working for KEC in different projects across Afghanistan.
This is not the first case of abduction of Indians in Afghanistan. In 2016, an Indian aid worker Judith D'Souza was kidnapped by suspected militants and was released after 40 days.
