KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan official has described the dramatic scene surrounding the release of a Canadian hostage held by the Taliban for five years. It involved a helicopter landing to scoop the captive to freedom as fighter jets flew overhead in a remote district in Afghanistan.
Police chief Gen. Aminullah Amarkhil said Tuesday that the hostage, Colin Rutherford, was released at 11 a.m. on Monday in Ghazni province's Giro district.
Rutherford was seized in November 2010 and accused of being a spy. Rutherford, now in his late 20s, said at the time that he was a tourist.
The Canadian Embassy in Kabul did not divulge his current whereabouts and it wasn't immediately clear if he had been flown out of Afghanistan. A Taliban statement says Rutherford's release was brokered by Qatar.
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