In the unlikely event you're following the Chinese engineers kidnapped in Afghanistan...

[Robb]

Buried well past the lede in this story is an update, of sorts:

...Elsewhere, four Afghans who had been kidnapped along with two Chinese engineers were released Tuesday, three days after they were seized by Taliban militants on their way home from working on a road construction project in northwestern Afghanistan, an official said.

Afghan and NATO forces in the Ghormach area of Faryab province also killed 10 Taliban militants and detained three others late Monday in an operation linked to the kidnapping, the deputy provincial governor, Abdul Sattar Barez, said without elaborating.

Barez said the four Afghans were released with the help of village mediation and authorities were optimistic the Chinese men would be freed soon....

The short version right now is the Taliban have implied they will be asking for a ransom. This is very, very interesting.

The Afghans released have been mentioned in media reports as drivers and interpreters. The Ghormach district is about a two-iron shot from Turkmenistan. This is notable because popular wisdom would assume the engineers were in-country working as part of the copper mine the Chinese won the contract to a few years ago. That mine is about on the other side of the country, however. More likely they were working on one of the hundreds of road projects the Chinese are building throughout Afghanistan -- infrastructure that is assumed to have been an under-the-table part of their bid to develop the mine.

But Ghormach is also pretty much Taliban-controlled. I can't imagine Karzai's government would bother working roads there into any deal for the copper rights.

So, anyone care to guess why the Chinese are building roads there? ...No, that's too easy. Here's a harder one: why is this the first time, in three years of working under the Taliban's nose, a Chinese national has been abducted? ;)

[Robb]

1. OK, a hint:

Ashraf Ghani.

[AnnieBW]

2. Because they do it cheaper than the Americans?

If you think the Americans are bad on the Shock Doctrine, the Chinese are worse. They give stuff away cheap to developing countries, then use their own people to build and control it, rather than the locals. The governments are SO GRATEFUL to the Chinese that they give them whatever they want.

[Prometheus Bound]

3. So the Islamic Court is going to try them: For building a road

I wonder what the punishment for such a crime is. But I can't answer your question.

China seeking to rescue abducted engineers
(AFP) – 1 day ago

BEIJING — China said Tuesday it was making an all-out effort to rescue two Chinese engineers kidnapped in Afghanistan, and seeking to verify reports that they were seized by the Taliban.

"On January 16, two staff members of a Chinese corporation were kidnapped in Afghanistan. They were kidnapped by unknown armed forces," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters.

"The relevant departments are investigating relevant issues and verifying the situation. They are making every effort to rescue these two people and ensure their safety."

A local Afghan official said Sunday that the two engineers had been helping to build a road in northern Faryab province when they were kidnapped along with their two local drivers and two guards.

Taliban spokesman Yusuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for the abduction, saying the Taliban's Islamic court, or shura, would decide on their fate.

Ma said China was seeking to verify if the kidnappers were in fact members of the hardline Islamist group.

Criminal gangs and Taliban insurgents have kidnapped several dozen foreigners, many of them journalists, in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led operation to topple the Taliban.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jDUZMjUoETzesomFYd0DYNF0uKFg

[Schema Thing]

4. marking/ nt