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Some good news out of Afghanistan, courtesy of the Daily Telegraph.
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British medical worker among four rescued from cave by special forces in Afghanistan
A British medical worker kidnapped in Afghanistan has been dramatically freed in a special forces raid.
By Ben Farmer, Kabul. 7:22AM BST 02 Jun 2012
The SAS are understood to have carried out the helicopter raid on the cave where Helen Johnston, 28, who was working for an aid project, was being held along with three other hostages. One of the other hostages is Moragwa Oirere, 26, a Kenyan-born aid worker who had previously worked with Save the Children.
David Cameron authorised the rescue attempt after military forces in Afghanistan briefed him on the planned operation. Speaking outside Number 10 after the raid, he described the rescue effort as "extraordinarily brave" and "breath-taking".
Miss Johnson's parents Philip and Patricia said: "We are delighted and hugely relieved by the wonderful news that Helen and all her colleagues have been freed.
“We are deeply grateful to everyone involved in her rescue, to those who worked tirelessly on her behalf, and to family and friends for their love, prayers and support over the last twelve days.
“We greatly appreciate the restraint shown by the media since her abduction, and ask that they continue to respect our privacy at this special time."
The other two were Afghan colleagues the pair had been working with in the country. The four rescued hostages were reported to be in a "good condition".
Miss Johnston and Ms Oirere were in the British Embassy in Kabul, while the two Afghans were safely in their home province.
The operation happened under cover of darkness in the early hours in Badakhshan province, in the north of Afghanistan.
Five heavily armed hostage-takers were killed during the rescue, officials in Afghanistan said. The kidnappers, who are believed to have been a criminal group with links to insurgents in Afghanistan, had made a ransom demand in a video.
Mr Cameron said he authorised the rescue attempt on Friday afternoon after becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of Ms Johnston and her colleagues.
He said all four hostages were rescued safely, no British troops were injured and a number of Taliban and hostage-takers were killed.
"It was an extraordinarily brave, breath-taking even, operation that our troops had to carry out," he said.
"I pay tribute to their skill and dedication."
The Prime Minister added the rescue should serve as a warning to terrorists across the world who take British citizens hostage.
He said: "They should know if they take British citizens as hostage we do not pay ransoms, we do not trade prisoners.
"They can expect a swift and brutal end.
"Above all, on this weekend of all weekends, we should say a enormous thank you to the incredibly brave forces that took part in this operation.
"We will never be able to publish their names but the whole country should know we have an extraordinary group of people who work for us who do amazingly brave things."
A statement from the Foreign Office added: "Helen and her colleagues were rescued by ISAF forces, including UK forces, in a carefully planned and coordinated operation.
"This operation was ordered by the Commander of ISAF and was authorised by the Prime Minister.
"We pay tribute to the bravery of the coalition forces which means that all four aid workers will soon be rejoining their families and loved ones.
"We have worked closely with the Afghan authorities throughout and we would like to thank them for their support."
The raid in the remote province of Badakhshan came less than two weeks after the women had been seized while trekking on horseback to treat villagers suffering from malnutrition.
Abdel Maruf Rasekh, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the raid had taken place at 1am in Shahr-e-Bozorg district, in a large forested area near the Tajikistan border called Koh-e-Laran.
In a statement American General John Allen, the overall commander of the International Security Assistance Force, which includes British and American troops in Afghanistan, said: "First, I would like to thank the Afghan Ministry of the Interior and Minister Mohammadi for their tremendous support throughout this crisis.
"Second, this morning’s mission, conducted by coalition forces, exemplifies our collective and unwavering commitment to defeat the Taliban.
“I’m extremely grateful to the Afghan authorities and proud of the ISAF forces that planned, rehearsed, and successfully conducted this operation.
"Thanks to them, Miss Helen Johnston, Ms. Moragwe Oirere, and their two co-workers will soon be rejoining their families and loved ones.”
SAS soldiers, assisted by other troops from ISAF's Joint Special Forces Group, which includes elements American Delta Force soldiers and Navy Seals, as well as local Afghan security forces, were transported to the cave by heilcopter and stormed into it, freeing the four hostages.
The aid workers – Miss Johnston and Moragwe Oirere and their two Afghan colleagues - were kidnapped on May 22.
They worked for Medair, a humanitarian non-governmental organisation based near Lausanne, Switzerland.
Medair said its team had been abducted while "visiting relief nutrition, hygiene and health project sites" in Badakhshan province.
Aurélien Demaurex, spokesman for the charity, said: “Medair is relieved that our colleagues are safe. We are immensely grateful to all parties involved in ensuring their swift and safe return.”
Badakhshan is an impoverished and mountainous province in Afghanistan's far northeast, and while mainly quiet, there have been pockets of insurgent activity.
Miss Johnston studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and had worked for the charity in Afghanistan since last year.
Last December she spoke of her work and told how she had regularly seen skeletal and "other-worldly" children in Badakhshan province.
The deeply conservative area, in which women are unable to go out alone and have been beaten for taking their children for treatment, has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world.
Miss Johnston said: "The international emergency level is a 15 per cent malnutrition rate, but here it is 30 per cent for under-fives and for the under-ones it's 60 per cent."
She added: "Some of things I have seen I have had a very emotional reaction to. The children come to the clinic draped in clothes, looking quite big, but then you roll up their sleeve to measure them and you see their tiny little frames. They look other-worldly.
"There was one little boy and I just thought 'what is going on?'"
Miss Oirere was born and educated in Kenya and subsequently worked fro Save the Children in Africa, as well as other aid projects, before working in Afghanistan.
A statement from the coalition described the kidnappers as Taliban, but local officials said they were petty criminals.
A British hostage was killed in Nigeria in March when an attempted rescue involving UK special forces ended in tragedy.
The successful rescue comes after a series of failed attempts to rescue other British hostages have ended in tragedy.
Chris McManus, working in the country as a building firm contractor, was killed alongside an Italian colleague as Nigerian troops and British Special Boat Service commandos launched a failed mission in west Africa.
The UK national had been held by terrorists associated with Islamist extremist group Boko Haram since May last year after being kidnapped from his apartment by gunmen.
Prime Minister David Cameron was criticised when it emerged that Italian authorities were not notified about the covert operation until it was under way.
Aid worker Linda Norgrove died during a mission to rescue her from hostage takers in Afghanistan in October 2010. Ms Norgrove, 36, was killed by a grenade thrown by a US soldier during the operation, although Wiltshire coroner David Ridley did not blame him or his comrades for the tragic mistake.
Three Afghans captured with her were released unharmed a few days later.
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