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DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania said on Friday that eight truck drivers kidnapped on Wednesday by rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were freed.
Mindi Kasiga, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua by phone that the drivers were freed after DRC soldiers ambushed the rebels in Kilembe forest.
She said most of them were in shock and being treated at a military hospital in DRC before arrangements for their journey back were made.
Kasiga said since most of documents belonging to the drivers, including passports, were destroyed when their lorries were burnt to ashes, they will have to travel to the Rwandan capital Kigali to process new passports at Tanzania's embassy.
"They cannot travel to our embassy in Kinshasa to get new passports because it is very far from the area. It is easier to travel to Kigali than Kinshasa," she said.
"The process of getting medical attention and travelling to Kigali to get new travel documents will take two to three days before they arrive back home," Kasiga added.
The rebels known as Mai-Mai on Wednesday burnt to ashes eight trucks from Tanzania and four others from Kenya, and kidnapped all drivers, demanding a ransom of 4,000 U.S. dollars from each driver.
Eight of the hijacked trucks belong to Tanzanian businessman identified as Azim Dewji, and the remaining four belong to Kenyan businessmen. The trucks from Tanzania were ferrying cement to the DRC.
Dewji who travelled to DRC on Friday said a satellite telephone was all it took to trace and ambush about 40 armed rebels.
"The satellite phone enabled the DRC soldiers to locate the rebels and ambush them at Kilembe forest on Friday night," said Dewji, adding that the rebels abandoned their captives before running away.
"I did not give the rebels a single cent as part of the demanded ransom," said Dewji, when asked on phone by Xinhua whether the ransom played its part on their release.
Last year eight Tanzanian Muslim clerics were kidnapped in the DRC and were later rescued following joint efforts by the governments of Tanzania and DRC. Enditem
