HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) - Two Turkish engineers kidnapped in Afghanistan last week have been freed, apparently in exchange for a ransom, officials said Monday.

The pair and their Afghan driver, working for a Turkish road construction company, were snatched on July 14 as they drove to their compound on the outskirts of the western city of Herat.

They were freed late Sunday, regional police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told AFP.

"The two Turkish nationals were freed last night and they say they paid some ransom," Ahmadi said without being able to say what amount was handed over or who had abducted the men.

"The company did not coordinate their efforts with us," the spokesman said.

A senior Turkish diplomat in Ankara also confirmed that the two were freed but he also could not give details.

"They are in good health and will be flown to Turkey today," the diplomat, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

The Taliban, the main militant group waging an insurgency against the US-backed government in Kabul, have been responsible for scores of such abductions while criminal gangs have also carried out kidnappings for ransom.

The Taliban have been holding a member of Afghanistan's parliament they abducted in Logar province -- near Kabul -- some two weeks ago.

Two French aid workers abducted in the central province of Day Kundi were kidnapped around the same time although it was not clear who has captured them.

Afghan police have said a German national abducted near Herat in mid-December is believed to have been killed after a ransom was not paid for his release.

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