Pierre Borghi, French freelance photographer, escapes Taliban captivity
Pierre Borghi, a 29-year-old French freelance photographer, escaped his Taliban captors this week after four months of captivity. Above an Afghan policeman directs a vehicle at a checkpoint in Wardak province on April 4, 2013.
A French freelance photographer has been freed from his Taliban captors after four months of captivity.
Pierre Borghi was working in Kabul, Afghanistan, trying to establish himself as a freelance photographer when he was kidnapped.
Reports vary as to how Borghi, 29, was released but he was said to have reached a checkpoint in Wardak province in central Afghanistan.
Though Wardak is known for Taliban activity, no group has ever come forward to claim responsibility.
He was reportedly kept in a crudely dug hole with a trap door for four months before his release.
Borghi arrived at the Afghan Interior Ministry at 4.30 pm on Monday and was seen leaving with French embassy officials.
He appeared in good health and asked for a cup of coffee.
Borghi is from Grenoble, France.
The French embassy has said little about the matter.
"He has been released," a spokesman for the French embassy in Kabul told AFP.
"Yes, he has been released, he was found by our guards in Maidan Shar town last night at around 9:00 pm (1630 GMT)," Shoib Sharifi, director of the Afghan Public Protection Force, told AFP.