DUSHANBE -- Afghan smugglers have released a Tajik fishery guard whom they kidnapped September 16, a source at Khatlon Province police told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)'s Tajik service Wednesday (September 28).
Khabib Karakhanov, a resident of Khamadoni District, had been held in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. Afghan authorities handed him over to Tajik border guards Tuesday (September 27).
Why the Afghan smugglers kidnapped him -- at his workplace -- is not known. Tajik security agencies did not disclose the conditions of Karakhanov's release. However, Said Jahongir Karomat, an Afghan police officer in Takhar Province, said that Karakhanov's captors freed him when they learned that "we were preparing an operation to free [him]".
A local insurgent commander named Bashirhon had been holding Karakhanov, said Karomat, adding that President Ashraf Ghani and Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak had been personally directing plans to liberate the hostage.
