Four employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were released Saturday in Afghanistan, three days after being abducted in the central Wardak province, officials said.

The ICRC confirmed the release of its personnel and said negotiations have been carried out with the Taliban over the past three days.

“The unconditional release of our four colleagues is a great relief to us and their families,” said Franz Rauchenstein, deputy head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul.

The four workers- two Afghan nationals, a Macedonian and a Burmese citizen- were in good health and didn’t bore signs of ill-treatment, an official from the government of the Wardak province said.

They had been kidnapped by militants in the same province Wednesday evening as they were returning to Kabul. The ICRC staff held talks with the insurgents for the release of a German hostage held since July and decided to return to the capital without a security escort.

According to reports, the German national, identified as Rudolf B, and four Afghans were released after those talks, but were again snatched along with the four ICRC workers.

Insurgents abducted the German and ICRC personnel after four kidnappers were arrested by security forces. The secrete services initiated an operation which led them to the people snatched in July and immediately after they were released, some of the abductors were detained.

The move sparked the militants’ anger and the ICRC convoy heading towards Kabul was stopped and all persons were captured, officials said.

Insurgents are known for kidnapping foreign civilians in Afghanistan, the number of such reprehensible actions increasing dramatically in the past period. The civilians are abducted and then released in exchange for ransoms or the freedom of other militants detained in Afghan prisons, but the Kabul government rejected any negotiations with extremists.

Thus, foreign governments have been heavily criticized for allegedly cutting deals with Taliban militants in order to secure the release of their citizens. Seoul officials are the latest to be criticized for paying a presumed ransom in exchange for the freedom of 21 South Korean nationals abducted on July 19 in the Ghazni province.