By Godfrey Olukya

ARU, Democratic Republic of Congo

Mai-Mai militiamen in Democratic Republic of Congo have released 24 truck drivers they kidnapped earlier this week.

The truck drivers, including 21 Tanzanians and three Kenyans, were abducted on Tuesday when the militia attacked their convoy in the village of Lulimba in the South Kivu province. The trucks they were driving belong to contractors of a Canadian company called Banro Mining Corp.

Lt. Francis Kakengo, a security officer in South Kivu, told Anadolu that there were 24 drivers in 23 trucks, meaning that one truck had a co-driver.

The government of Tanzania said in a statement that the released drivers remain stranded in the vast country because their captors freed them on condition that they leave their cars, money, and other belongings behind.

Five employees of the same company, including a Frenchman, were kidnapped this March and released in May.