The police in northern Afghanistan have launched a drive to rescue the five Bangladeshis who were abducted by local criminals on Friday night.
Foreign ministry officials said the Afghan authorities have also taken necessary steps to send back the body of Bangladeshi engineer Kazi Altaf Hossain, who was killed during the abduction.
Altaf was killed and seven workers held hostage on December 17 when Afghan gunmen stormed a remote road-building camp run by a South Korean construction firm at Mazar-I-Sharif, which lies between the northern Afghan provinces of Balkh and Samangan.
Two of the workers were freed on Sunday.
According to the foreign ministry, the Afghanistan government, in response to a formal request, has assured Dhaka that they would extend full cooperation with regard to the release of the five Bangladeshi citizens and expedite the process to send home the body of the deceased engineer.
Bangladesh Ambassador in Tashkent, Mohammad Imran Alam, is in touch with the Afghan authorities and doing everything necessary to ensure safe release of the hostages, said the ministry officials.
