Libya’s UN-backed government says 3 abducted Turks released

CAIRO – Libya’s U.N.-backed government in Tripoli says three Turkish workers who were kidnapped last year in a southern Libyan town have been released.

The government said late Saturday the workers would be flown back to Turkey from the capital Tripoli.

The hostages were working for the Turkish company ENKA Teknik building a power plant in the desert town of Ubari, about 950 kilometres (590 miles) south of Tripoli. An unknown armed group abducted them along with a German national in November.

After their abduction, the power plant shut down and the firm evacuated dozens of its staff from Libya.

Libya was plunged into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, and is now split between rival governments, each backed by an array of militias.