Aid Workers Free From Taliban's Hold

Nov. 14 -- U.S. military helicopters swept into Afghanistan and picked up the eight foreign aid workers held by the Taliban on charges of preaching Christianity, President Bush said tonight.

The helicopters airlifted the two Americans, four Germans and two Australians to Pakistan. They arrived in Islamabad Thursday, local time.

"Today we've got incredibly good news," Bush said near his ranch in Crawford, Texas. "Our United States military rescued eight humanitarian workers who had been imprisoned in Afghanistan."

The president said U.S. special operations forces received help from someone on the ground near Kabul, the Afghan capital, but he did not give further details. Sources told ABCNEWS that someone on the ground lit small fires to guide in the U.S. forces.

Bush said he had been worried that the Taliban, on the run from Northern Alliance soldiers, might put the aid workers in a location that might be targeted by U.S. bombing runs. "We thought of different ways to extricate them from the prison they were in," Bush said, without elaborating.

All in Good Condition

In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said all of the aid workers were in good condition.

"This effort involved many people and several entities. U.S. forces performed the extraction well and the American people can be proud of them," Rumsfeld said in a statement.

The statement said three special operations helicopters buzzed into a field about 50 miles southwest of Kabul at 4:40 p.m. ET and picked up the aid workers, who had been held on charges of alleged proselytizing since Aug. 5.

The eight belong to the German-based Christian charity Shelter NowInternational, and had been held in Kabul until the Taliban fled to the southern city of Kandahar on Monday night. The Taliban took the aid workers with them.

One defense official said the release was the result of "nonconfrontational" negotiations between the Taliban and international agencies.

Pride for Americans