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Dutch Aid Worker Freed In Afghanistan After 81 Days


Afghan refugee children returning from Pakistan listen to an aid worker speak about mines.
Afghan refugee children returning from Pakistan listen to an aid worker speak about mines.

A Dutch aid worker who was abducted by unidentified gunmen in June in Afghanistan has been freed after being held for 81 days, the Dutch Foreign Ministry has said.

Anja de Beer is recovering in the Dutch Embassy in Kabul and is "doing pretty well considering the circumstances," the ministry said.

An experienced aid worker who spent more than 15 years working for United Nations agencies, de Beer had been posted in Kabul for several years and was working for the Swiss nongovernmental organization Helvetas when she was snatched on the street in broad daylight.

De Beer told Dutch public broadcaster NOS that she had been "treated well" by her abductors. "They gave me food and drink and I was not mistreated," she said.

She added that she had been kept in isolation and was only given a few hours' notice of her impending release.

De Beer was abducted at gunpoint by four armed men on June 22 outside her office in the Afghan capital's Taimani area.

The kidnappers have not been identified.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
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