PESHAWAR: Eight employees of the Gomal Zam Dam project were released Saturday, almost a year after they were kidnapped by Pakistani Taliban militants in South Waziristan tribal region.
A spokesman for the Governor house in Peshawar confirmed all eight workers had been released.
The project workers - Sub-Divisional Officer Shahid Ali Khan, Sub-Engineer Sanaullah, four security personnel and two other staffers - were kidnapped on August 15, 2012 while they were travelling to Tank from the dam site in South Waziristan.
A month after their kidnapping, a faction of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) released a video of the abducted employees pleading to the government to fulfill the militants' demands and arrange for their safe release.
The release took place in South Waziristan region on Saturday after successful negotiations between a tribal jirga (council) and the militants.
A Taliban spokesman said the eight men were released as a "goodwill gesture" from the militants.
The incident comes two days after the government inaugurated the dam in South Waziristan's militancy-ravaged Khajori Katch area on Thursday.
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