3 medical workers detained in southern Afghanistan freed after a week in custody

3 Italian aid workers freed in Afghanistan

KABUL — Afghan authorities released three Italian medical workers Sunday who had been detained in southern Afghanistan for a week on suspicion of collaborating with insurgents, Italian and Afghan officials said.

The three employees of Italian non-governmental organization Emergency hadn’t been heard from since being taken into custody April 10 in Helmand after explosives and handguns were found in a raid by Afghan police and British troops on an Emergency hospital.

Officials in Helmand have alleged to the media the three were bribed by insurgents to smuggle weapons into the hospital in preparation for an assassination attempt on the provincial governor.

Emergency strongly denied the accusation.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the release came about “without putting into question” Italy’s relations with the Afghan government or NATO.

The Afghan intelligence service confirmed the release of the Italians and five Afghan workers for Emergency, but said a sixth Afghan employee continued to be held.

“This plan was made by the enemies of peace and stability from outside Afghanistan’s borders, who pressured one of the Afghan employees of Emergency,” the intelligence service said in a statement. The eight people released were found to have no involvement in the plot, it added.

The Italians were handed over to the Italian Embassy in Kabul on Sunday, the statement said.