British doctor is a member of Medair team freed by special forces in Badakhshan after kidnap for ransom a month earlier Five aid workers including a British doctor have been freed in an Afghan special forces raid a month after they were taken hostage. The aid workers employed by Swiss-based Medair had been en route to flood-stricken parts of Badakhshan province in May when they were kidnapped. The Briton is believed to be Helen Johnston, 27, who lived in Stoke Newington while studying nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. There was another western hostage and the other three were Afghans, it is understood. "It was a successful operation conducted by troops and all five aid workers have been released," said Shamsul Rahman Shams, the deputy governor of Badakhshan. He said five hostage-takers were killed in the operation late on Friday. Police have said the men demanded money for the release of the group. The aid workers had been travelling by donkey to visit a...