Gunmen on Monday freed 10 of 13 Afghan deminers abducted last week and the remaining three will be released soon, officials said.

No ransom was paid and freedom for the 10, who were seized on Thursday, was being negotiated by tribal elders, he said.

The deminers belonging to Afghan Technical Consultants were abducted while traveling in a convoy in the southeastern province of Paktia.

The head of the consultancy, Kefayatullah Eblagh, confirmed the release.

"An eight-member delegation of tribal chiefs had guaranteed the safety of the deminers, so they worked out their freedom," he told Reuters.

Deen Mohammad Darwish, a spokesman for Paktia's governor, did not identify the abductors, but on Thursday had said they were the "enemies of Afghanistan," a term often used by Afghan officials to describe Taliban insurgents.

The Taliban, who have been behind a series of abductions of foreign nationals and Afghans in recent months, have denied any involvement.

The latest mass-kidnapping came days after the Taliban vowed to abduct and kill foreign nationals from countries that have troops in Afghanistan, and after their high-profile kidnapping of 23 South Korean missionaries.

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghan deminers work on mine fields in the capital Kabul, March 10, 2004.

BBC