Indian priest is released in Afghanistan, back home, 8 months after abduction, Jesuits say

ROME – The Jesuit religious order says an Indian priest who was abducted in Afghanistan eight months ago has been released.

James Stapleton, a Jesuit Refugee Service spokesman in Rome, said the Rev. Alexis Prem Kumar, was released on Sunday and has since returned to his native India.

Stapleton says the priest is "tired, he's happy to be home."

Kumar, who the service's Afghanistan director, was visiting a Jesuit Refugee Service-supported school near Herat, western Afghanistan, when he was abducted by several armed men in June.

Stapleton says that Jesuits in India had been informed by the Indian government of Kumar's safe return. He said he didn't have other details about Kumar's release.