Last Afghanistan de-miners freed

Gunmen in Afghanistan have now released all 13 members of an Afghan mine clearing team they kidnapped in the eastern province of Paktia.

The head of the de-mining group said the last three men were freed on Thursday morning.

The other 10 had been freed on Monday. Police say no ransom was paid.

It is not clear who the kidnappers were. The Taleban denied having anything to do with the abduction.

Thursday's release was negotiated by local elders.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says Afghans are kidnapped far more often than foreigners, sometimes by criminal gangs and sometimes by insurgents.

The kidnapping comes after a number of high-profile abductions by the Taleban in recent months.