Red Cross says it handed over 10 Afghan soldiers after release by Taliban

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday it facilitated the release of 10 Afghan security force members detained by the Taliban and handed them over to Afghan authorities. It followed the release by the Afghan Taliban on Tuesday of American and Australian university professors held hostage for more than three years, raising hopes for a revival of peace talks.

"The 10 Afghan National Security Forces members were released and handed over to the ICRC in Helmand Province, in the District of Nahr-e Saraj," Juan Pedro Schaerer, the ICRC's head of delegation in Afghanistan said in a statement. "We transferred them across the frontline to Lashkar Gah where we handed them over to the Afghan authorities at the governor's office."