Taliban Release Four Tajik Border Guards

Afghan and Tajik soldiers at the Tajik Border Troops Training Center in Gissar (File photo)

The Taliban in Afghanistan has released four Tajik border guards after mediation efforts by Qatar.

A Qatar Foreign Ministry statement on June 15 said the four had been released for "humanitarian reasons."

Dushanbe has yet to comment on the reported release.

The border guards were captured by Taliban militants in northern Afghanistan, not far from the border with Tajikistan, last December.

They were caught apparently gathering firewood.