Herat_Afghanistan
An Afghan policeman talks with residents of the Ghori village in the Adraskan district of the Herat province April 3, 2014. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi says his country has secured the release of a Roman Catholic priest who had been taken captive by the Taliban in the same province last June. Reuters/Omar Sobhani

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter a couple of times Sunday to announce his country had secured the release of the Rev. Alexis Prem Kumar, a Jesuit aid worker. An Indian citizen, the Roman Catholic priest had been taken captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan last June.

Kumar was working for a nonprofit organization when he was abducted in the Herat region of Afghanistan last year.

Indian citizens and installations in Afghanistan have come under attack on several occasions in recent years. In July 2008, the Indian embassy in the capital city of Kabul was bombed, killing several people, including a senior diplomat. And last May the Indian consulate in Herat was attacked, injuring several diplomats, among others.

Word of Kumar’s release came even as at least 39 Indian workers are currently believed to be held hostage by the Islamic State group in Iraq. India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj reportedly told their relatives Saturday that the country had “no proof” about whether the 39 Indians were dead or alive.
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